LOOKING BACK ON LAUNCH DAY
Last week, Toby Trice made his first appearance as a Porsche driver when he took part in the 2022 Porsche Visit Cayman Islands Sprint Challenge GB media day.
The event was held on the Silverstone International circuit, and while a large part of the day was spent collating media assets for the season ahead, there were also two testing sessions, giving Toby important time behind the wheel to get to grips with his new 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.
Speaking about his day, Toby said: “It couldn’t have gone any better. I was really pleased to finally be in the car.
“I was very excited and had lots of apprehension of the challenge ahead of me. It was the first time ever out on slicks, the first time out in the Cayman, and this was on media day when the world would be watching and seeing what performance I could put out. But I certainly didn’t embarrass myself.”
Over the course of both sessions, Toby found himself setting times that were good enough to place him in the midfield.
In the first session, he managed a best effort of 1m08.929s, putting him fifth out of 11 on the timesheet, before managing a best time of 1m09.934s in the second session to end the day fourth quickest.
On average, Toby was a second and a half off the fastest time in each session, but this was impressive given his lack of experience driving the car and the fact he was on old tyres all day.
“We stayed on one set of tyres all day,” explained Toby. “The goal really was to learn the car, get a feel for the car itself and try and push on towards the end of the day, and I was continually improving.
“We didn’t even get a chance to look at setup changes, we just wanted to get comfortable with the car and get ready for the year ahead, and I certainly didn’t embarrass myself.
“I was running right in the mix with where I should be. Thankfully I was a lot higher up the order than I thought I might be, so I was really grateful for that.”
With the cars ahead of Toby spending the day using multiple sets of fresh tyres, it had given Toby the knowledge that if he gets everything right, he should be right in the mix this year.
But while it was important to get first impressions of his car and his pace, the day was also very special for an entirely different reason.
“I’m so proud to formally represent myself in the Porsche paddock as a Porsche racing driver.
“What an experience that is and it’s been a lifelong dream come true really, at Silverstone on media day. I am very proud of that achievement, and I can’t wait to see what the year has in store!”
