It was not a repeat of Campos Racing’s 2021 Red Star Raceway success at Round 4 of the 2022 Global Touring Cars (GTC) SupaCup Championship, with Keegan Campos taking the team’s sole podium.
Keegan, driving his Campos Racing / Turn 1 Insurance Brokers Polo SupaCup, started well by heading up the second row of the grid for Race 1. As the field negotiated the first corner, he got caught up in an incident pushing him back in the pack. With one lap completed, Keegan found himself in eighth place. He made his way past Damian Hammond and Tato Carello on successive laps and kept the latter at bay for the remainder of the 10-lap race distance to finish in fifth place. In Race 2 and with the field sorting themselves out from the reverse grid start, he occupied fourth place for a large portion of the race while chasing down Arnold Neveling. His podium came from a successful challenge on Neveling on the penultimate lap, a position which Keegan maintained across the finish line.
For brother Jason, things were less fortunate, with his highlight of the day being fifth place in Qualifying. Like Keegan, he too was caught up in the opening corner carnage. Damage sustained proved to be more terminal for Jason, who swiftly retired and was unable to make the start of the second race.
Iain Pepper had mixed results on his debut, deputising for Rui Campos in the Pepper Racing / Campos Transport entry making his return to circuit racing for the first time in nearly six years. Competing in the GTC SupaCup Masters class, Pepper showed good pace throughout Friday and starting in 12th place on the grid, had a 0,7 second advantage over Masters’ points leader Nick Davidson. Like the Campos brothers, he was also hampered by the Race 1 incident and had to make up lost ground to pass Stefan Snyders for the penultimate position in the race and third in class. In Race 2, he also retired after sustaining damage on the penultimate lap. Still, he was classified as a finisher, rounding out the field and taking fourth place in the Masters’ class.
“It was not our strongest weekend after the incident, but I fought back valiantly,” said Keegan. “Fortunately, I did not sustain significant damage and was able to play the long game on the day to take home two points-paying results.”
“It was unfortunate to have our day end so abruptly,” said Jason. “We had good pace on the weekend, and I was looking forward to being in the podium hunt in Race 1, but that was not to be. We will come back strong next time around, for sure.”
“After an extended absence from the circuit, it was a bit of a baptism of fire to step into the GTC SupaCup,” said Pepper. “We had good pace and I was looking forward to a strong result, but I had to fight back from the back foot. Still, we got one good finish and another points-paying classification in our class. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first two races in the car and am looking forward to the next round.”
Round 5 of the 2022 GTC SupaCup will be held at the East London Grand Prix Circuit on August 5-6.
Issued by Motorsport Fanatix on behalf of Campos Racing SA
