Dino Zamparelli endured a frustrating end to his race season, cutting the 4 point gap to no points after 15 races, but with Eastwood claiming one more win over the season, the Champion was decided on who had more wins on countback.
Zamparelli did everything right on Saturday, Qualifying in 3rd and 2nd place, one place ahead of his championship rival Charlie Eastwood. With only 4 points separating the pair, it was going to be a case of who finished ahead of who for the title.
Round 14 took place in wet & damp conditions, and unfortunately for the 24-year-old Bristol racer, a mistake at turn 4 would see him run wide and come back on the circuit behind Eastwood. A quick recovery back to 5th place was still not enough as Eastwood finished up 4th place and one position ahead of Zamparelli.
Dino said: "It was a big shame, I just didn't have the grip I had hoped for all race and we were just miles off the pace. All season, if we've had a wet session, we've been lightning fast, if not always the fastest car. Silverstone last time out was damp but on slicks, and the car felt alive and I won the race. But this race at Brands, the car was on wet
For the final race of the 2017 season, Zamparelli made a strong start from 2nd place and slotted in behind the pole man Dan Cammish. Eastwood ran wide at turn 2 and fell back to 6th place. If the positions had stayed like that, Zamparelli would have been crowned champion with 2 more points than Eastwood. However, Eastwood and his teammate Tom Oliphant would swap places several times during the 30-minute encounter, with the former ending up in 5th place across the line.
Zamparelli threw everything on the line to put pressure on Cammish, but the top 2 were unchanged in the race, and thus Zamparelli would cross the line in 2nd place, and tie on points with Eastwood for overall honours. However, with Zamparelli claiming 3 wins and Eastwood claiming 4, the championship would fall the way of Eastwood.
A disappointed Zamparelli explains: "That's racing, that's life and that's sport. I crossed the line having given everything to try and win the race, but 2nd place was all we could achieve in that race. I could see on the pit boards and also the big tv screens where Eastwood was, and I knew it would be close."
"It's a bit of a disgusting way to lose the title, it has to be said. Naturally, I'll look back at Donington Park where I finished 2nd on the road, but we got disqualified for a small technical infringement, and that has cost us 18 points. Oh how I would have loved those 18 points at the end!"
"It has been a great season. I'm naturally gutted to not have won it, but we've claimed something like 13 out of 15 podiums, with eight 2nd place finishes, three wins, and two 3rd place finishes. That's not a bad year's work with a brand new Porsche team - I'll hold my head up high and be proud of my year."
"I want to say a massive thank you to all of my sponsors and racing partners, big or small, we had an awesome year together and thank you for all your support. Thank you to my team JTR and all of my supporters. It's been a strong year, the best one of my career to date and I'm excited to see what the future brings now."
From all at Team DZ, thank you for a great year, here's to an even stronger 2018.
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