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15 Nov 2021

Porsche’s latest race series offers a worthy prize

Meet the 2020 champion of Porsche’s newest race series  

In 2019, a plan was unveiled to create a new tier for the acclaimed driver programme known as the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid. Using the as-yet-unseen new 718 Cayman GT4, the Sprint Challenge was designed to offer a more affordable entry into single make racing than the Carrera Cup, but one that would enjoy the same level of professionalism and exposure on the TOCA calendar. Expressions of interest were soon rolling in from around the UK and what officially became known as the ‘Porsche Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge Great Britain’ kicked off its inaugural season in the summer of 2020.

Positioned between PCGB’s Boxster Cup and Porsche’s own Carrera Cup, the series was an off-the-peg opportunity to forge a path in the world of Porsche Motorsport with a turnkey car, televised races at the country’s most prestigious circuits, a £10,000 prize for the winner and an all-expenses-paid holiday to the Cayman Islands thrown in by the championship’s principal sponsor.

Still waiting to take his holiday is James Dorlin, the 22-year-old Yorkshireman who dominated the Sprint Challenge from start to finish despite an improbably late entry and relatively little experience. Dorlin, who had only recently graduated from racing in the Clio Cup to drive for McLaren in British GT, was called up by Nick Dudfield at In2Racing in 2020 and offered a seat in the team’s recently acquired Cayman. The only hitch was that the car was yet to arrive and there was less than a week to go until Round 1.

“It was all very last-minute,” Dorlin remembers. “Monday of the first race week, we put our entry in. The car arrived on Wednesday night and we wrapped it on Thursday. The team had already taken the truck to the circuit that day, so I towed the car there myself at midnight on the Thursday, ready for the race weekend. And we stuck it on pole and won both races. I think I was running on adrenaline all week!”



A phlegmatic Dorlin followed up this astonishing start with five further wins and 11 podiums from 12 races, winning the championship with undeniable ease – a feat he modestly attributes in part to the 718 itself. “To be honest, it went better than I was expecting. It was a competitive series and it was always going to be difficult for us being so last-minute. I’d never been in the car and the team had never run it, but we all managed to click with it pretty quickly and get good results through the season.”
Coming in at roughly half the overall cost of a season in the Carrera Cup, the Sprint Challenge owes much of its affordability to the keenly priced 718 Cayman GT4. An authentic Porsche race car, it is offered with a no-life engine and gearbox to significantly reduce running costs across future seasons and series.

“It’s a very rewarding car to drive,” Dorlin says. “As much as it’s a complicated race car, it’s actually pretty simple to get your head around as a driver and get the most out of it. A lot of cars take a lot longer to get used to, but the Cayman gives you a lot of feedback, which helps you to just jump in and be at the front straight away. And I never had any mechanical failures, which proves again the quality you get with Porsche.”

Despite the highly professional nature of the Sprint Challenge, another comfort for current and prospective entrants to the championship is the relaxed and inclusive atmosphere of the paddock, something that Dorlin observed from early on. “Everyone is there to get results,” he says, “but there’s no animosity between the teams. Everyone gets on and helps each other out whenever it’s needed. The racing is still hard and competitive, but it’s fair. And, compared to a lot of championships, the driving standards are very high which is testament to not just the drivers, but the way Porsche manages the Sprint Challenge. It’s one of the best single make championships I’ve seen.”

The professionalism and focus Porsche Motorsport offers in the Sprint Challenge is certainly ideal training for rapid career progression and it is little surprise that Dorlin found a seat in the Carrera Cup in 2021. However, despite a successful first outing, his funding fell through and he has since decided to regroup and mount a comprehensive campaign in 2022.

Meanwhile, amid a busy schedule of driver coaching, historic racing and fund-raising for next year, he still has that holiday to the Cayman Islands to take. “It’s my first time going to the Caribbean,” he says, “so I’m very much looking forward to it. I’ve not been yet due to the travel restrictions, but I’m looking out of my office window in South Yorkshire right now at the pouring rain and wishing I was there already.”

 

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