A Tough Weekend at Croft
Toby Trice endured his toughest round of the season yet in the Porsche Cayman Sprint Challenge but remains in the hunt for the championship title.
Toby headed into Croft knowing it was going to be a tough round, given it’s a track that he has limited experience driving, but he performed well in qualifying to put himself sixth on the grid, just four tenths off pole position.
On the opening race of the weekend, he managed to improve on that position to finish the race fifth, having fended off Raceway Motorsport’s Marc Warren and Toby finished the second race where he started, crossing the line in seventh.
Although Toby didn’t make any progress during the second race, it was a much stronger performance, having experienced a race long battle with Warhurst and Robert Cronin. And although he ended up losing out to the pair, it gave him much more confidence going into the final race of the weekend.
Starting the final race from seventh on the grid meant that it was always going to be a difficult one for Toby, but he made a lightning start and pulled off some strong overtakes to quickly move up the leaderboard.
Having quickly got himself up into second, Toby made a great overtake on Joe Warhurst at Tower to take the lead on the second lap, brushing doors as he went up the inside, and from there he managed to soak up all the pressure from Max Coates who had made it into second to win the race.
Unfortunately, though, the win wouldn’t stand. An investigation was launched after the race and the stewards deemed that the contact with Warhurst when making a move for the lead constituted causing a collision and as a result he was demoted two positions, meaning he was classified third.
“Sunday was interesting. In the first race of the weekend, we all went out on slicks and then the heavens opened. It meant conditions were super challenging and actually, I learnt so much during that race,” said Trice.
“I got knocked down the order, but I managed to climb back up to finish seventh. It wasn’t a great result but the race I had was so much fun and I think everyone had their fair share of misfortune during that race.
“But the highlight for me was race three. I started P7 and the pressure was on to get some big points from his race. I wanted a podium and to finish the weekend on a high.
“I fought hard and strong right until the chequered flag, In two laps I made up all seven positions to get into the lead. I made a strong move for the lead at Tower and then defended for my life from Max Coates and Joe Warhurst, but unfortunately, the race ended under a red flag after Callum Davis crashed out.
“I was really pleased to see him walk away from that crash as it was a big one and it’s a testament to the safety of the cars.
“But sadly after the race, there was a stewards investigation which meant I lost my victory.
“It’s absolutely devastating news but all we can do is take the positives going into the next weekend at Donington.”
Toby’s results at Croft means he heads to Donington fourth in the championship, 12 points off the lead, so everything is very much still to play for.
Donington will play host to rounds 10,11 and 12 of the 18-round championship and it takes place on August 26-27 2023.
