Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholar Charlie Eastwood enjoyed a strong debut outing in the championship at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in Kent, taking Rookie Class honours in both races and narrowly missing out on a first podium finish.

The Northern Irishman, driving with eight-time Carrera Cup champions Redline Racing, suffered a setback in practice when a stone flicked up off his tyre went through the radiator, which prevented him from getting any practice laps on fresh tyres before qualifying. However, Eastwood rallied impressively to set the fifth fastest time in both sessions, each time as top Rookie Class entrant.

A lap of the 1.2 mile-Indy circuit takes just 46 seconds in a Porsche 991 GT3 Cup Car, leaving little room for a breather before launching into the next lap. That frenetic tempo was in evidence right from the beginning of Race One, although the circuit had still to fully dry after an overnight shower. Showing no signs that this was a 20-year-old in his first race with a roof over his head and taking part in his first rolling start, Eastwood held position in the opening laps before executing a textbook switchback manoeuvre to take fourth away from Jonas Gelzinis into Driuds.

“I put him under a bit of pressure into Paddock and although I was a quite far back, I knew the brakes were strong and just went for the move – I was quite good on the brakes there all weekend.”

After a lengthy Safety Car interjection, Eastwood latched onto the back of Tom Sharp, and determinedly tracked the 2015 Rookie Class winner through traffic, but was unable to prize open his defences and would ultimately finish three tenths shy of his first podium finish.

“I had a bit more pace than Sharp coming to the end of the lap, but it’s so hard to pass someone of relatively similar pace when they’re defending. There were a lot of new variables I had to deal with, for example I’d never done a rolling start before, so it gave me an idea of what I’ve got to face for the rest of the year. Although I had a few chances, I just couldn’t capitalise, but I’m still happy with fourth because it’s good points for the championship and I’m fighting against boys who are in their second or maybe third year of Carrera Cup.”

Eastwood again held fifth at the start of Race Two, but lost two positions when he was boxed in on the inside at Druids. But instead of feeling sorry for himself, Eastwood responded and duly worked his way back past Rookie Class rival Lewis Plato. However, with his steering knocked out of kilter in the earlier battling, Eastwood found it difficult to make further progress and thus had to settle for sixth at the flag.

“When I was going straight, the steering wheel was at 45 degrees, which wasn’t ideal because nearly all the corners are right-handers!”

Having impressed the Porsche Carrera Cup GB community with his temerity and speed, the Infinity Sports Management prodigy will be a force to be reckoned with at the next round at Silverstone, which will support the FIA World Endurance Championship.

“All in all it was good to get some points on the board and it’s very early days. To be honest, the bigger tracks like Silverstone should suit me a bit better, so I’m looking forward to racing in two weeks’ time in front of the crowds at the WEC round. Hopefully we can put on a show and really try to push for my first podium.”