Horne heads British pack in Porsche Supercup

Sun 11th July 2004 Barry Horne topped the British contingent in practice today at Silverstone (Friday 9 July) ahead of Sunday's round of the Porsche Michelin Supercup. Horne, racing one of the VIP cars, ended the 45-minute practice session in 11th place, but ran as high as third in the middle of the session.

As the drivers acclimatised to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit before Saturday's all-important qualifying session, Jason Templeman (Team VLR), Chris Cooper (Team Parker Racing) and Martin Rich (Team Parker Racing) all ran strongly to slot into the highly competitive Supercup field. However, a brake problem prevented Marcus Thomas (Team VLR) from setting a representative time.

Preparing for his first race of the season, Horne shot to third on the timesheets mid-session to show that he will be a force in the race. Although he later dropped to 11th place, he is confident of turning in a strong performance in qualifying. "I didn't really get the best out of the car after I set that time," explained Horne. "It's a different car and I'm still getting used to it. But I should be quicker when we put the new tyres on for qualifying."

Templeman set 14th best time in the 23-car field, despite losing the splitter from his car when he ran wide across the grass at the high-speed Becketts complex. "We knew the competition was going to be tough, but we'll look at the data and see what we can do for qualifying," he promised.

Cooper posted 17th best time on his first real experience of the Grand Prix circuit, while Rich was 19th. "It's pretty respectable at this stage," said Cooper, who has only eight Carrera Cup races behind him in terms of Porsche experience. "I came into the pits on what would have been my best lap," he added.

"This is only my third season of racing, so it's just awesome fun to be here at the Grand Prix," said Rich. "But it's hard work!" The only real dramas befell Thomas, who was unable to get a clear lap due to brake problems. The Northampton-based racer will return for qualifying aiming to show his true pace.

Qualifying is scheduled for 11.25am on Saturday, while the race will start at 11.10am on Sunday as the final support race ahead of the British Grand Prix.