Porsche Cup Silverstone 15/10/2006

Purdie wins again at Silverstone

Andy Purdie scored his third victory of the season with a stunning drive to win the Pro-Am Category in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Silverstone on Saturday (14 October).

Purdie drove a mighty race to work through to win in the Paragon Porsche entry, but was denied a shot at a second win in the final race of the season on Sunday when his car was hit by that of a rival and was forced into retirement.  In qualifying, Andy posted tenth best time in the 21-car field, which was fourth fastest in the pro-am category. 

However, his best lap was only eight-tenths of a second slower than the pole position time and just a fifth of a second behind the fastest pro-am qualifier.  The opening laps of the race were very busy, but Andy kept away from any drama and was up to eighth place by the end of the second lap and through to third in pro-am behind Mike Richards and Andy Demetriou.  Over the next few laps, Andy really pushed hard to catch and pass pro racer Richard Williams. 

Next in his sights was Demetriou and by lap 12 he was ahead and going clear.  Now, all that stood between Andy and pro-am victory was Richards and for the next 10 laps he hunted his rival relentlessly. Lap by lap the margin reduced and by lap 23, the cars were nose to tail. Then, as Richards made a mistake under braking for Brooklands, Andy dived cleanly ahead to take fifth place and pro-am victory after one of his best drives of the season.  

“That was so good! I’m just so happy with that race and it was such hard work,” said Andy. “Roger Heavens and the guys in the team gave me a great set-up for race. Mike ran wide and I managed to squeeze up the inside, but once I was in front it was ever harder work!”  On Sunday, in front of a huge crowd of 33,000 fans, Andy went into the race aiming for a double win. 

He was soon battling hard with Demetriou, and dived ahead with a superb passing move into Brooklands corner. Unfortunately, he was then hit by Demetriou's car and retired as a result. Demetriou was later penalised over the incident.