Richardson Racing extended its astonishing run of success in the 2023 season with victory in the latest rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton.
The Northamptonshire-based team headed to the fastest circuit in the UK looking to add to victories at both Donington Park and Brands Hatch, whilst the team had also taken to the top step of the podium in the opening event of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux season at Spa.
That followed on from a title-winning programme over the winter in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe – where the team scored a 100 per cent pole record, and won four of the six races.
The Thruxton weekend started in positive fashion with Robert De Haan topping the times in Friday practice, with team-mate Micah Stanley also running solidly within the top ten overall.
An astonishing performance from Rob in qualifying saw him lead the way by more than half a second, with the Dutch teenager being the only driver to lap below 1m 12s in the session.
Unfortunately for Micah, he would lose a time that would have put him inside the top eight to track limits, which meant he would line up tenth in class and 14th overall for the opening race.
That 22 lap encounter would see Rob in dominant form as he maintained his lead at the start and then romped away from the pack behind, setting a new lap record as he scored the biggest win seen in the series since 2020.
From his starting position, Micah wasted little time in making up ground as he fought his way into the top ten overall by the end of the second lap before battling his way ahead of BTCC race winner Ollie Jackson into ninth on lap eight.
A move on Harry Foster at the chicane then allowed Micah to take eighth spot, with a five-second penalty for one of the drivers ahead then promoting him to seventh in the final result.
The reverse grid second race saw Rob line up in fifth place with Micah directly behind, but there would be disappointment when the lights went out as an error from Rob during the launch phase forced him to retire.
Micah did well to avoid his team-mate ahead as he moved up into sixth place before overhauling Jake Giddings for fifth just after a brief safety car period to allow Rob’s car to be recovered.
Having then battled ahead of Matty Graham at the complex into fourth place, Micah held station to the flag to match his best result in the series.
At the end of the weekend, Rob sits second in the points with Micah in eighth, whilst Richardson Racing tops the Entrants Championship ahead of the next round at Oulton Park.
Before that event in two weeks time, the team will travel to Hockenheim for the second meeting of the Benelux season next weekend.
Micah Stanley, #5 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, said:
“I was on the back foot after qualifying, and I think I overdrove a bit at the start of race one and took too much from the tyres because it became a handful late on. Without that, I think we could possibly have made up a few more places because the pace was really good.
“I had a bit of contact in race two which I hold my hands up to as it was my fault. It was a bit more difficult to drive after the contact, but the pace in the car was really good and it allowed me to match my best result so far. Hopefully a podium finish isn’t far away.”
Robert De Haan, #46 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, said:
“Qualifying on pole with the gap that we had was incredible, and not something I expected at all. We carried that pace into the first race although it wasn’t as easy as it looked. It was difficult with the tyres as they were struggling towards the end, but I think we did a mega job managing them, and with the set-up of the car, and it really showed the pace that we have.
“Race two was really disappointing because I think we could have come away from the weekend with a double win, but we can take a lot of positives from here into a busy month of racing and fight for more victories.”