Team shares victory spoils at Silverstone
TEAM Parker Racing enjoyed a superb start to the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB season as it dominated the weekend’s races, locking out the podium on all three occasions on Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit.
There was joy for Charles Clark and Matt Armstrong, who both claimed maiden series victories for the Desford-based outfit, while Harry Foster proved his impressive debut appearance last season was no fluke.
John White also had an enjoyable weekend as he continues his development in his first full season of competition.
It was Clark who laid down the first marker, clinching pole position for races one and two with his two fastest laps in qualifying, but he would be disappointed in the opening 20-minute contest as a small mistake at Vale gave Armstrong a chance to sweep by.
From there, despite Clark’s best efforts, he could not find a way past.
Foster had a somewhat lonely race on his own in third to round off the podium, while behind White performed well, finishing fifth in the Am class. In race two, Clark wouldn’t make the same mistake, fending off Armstrong to clinch his first win, while Foster recovered after dropping to fifth to climb back up to third, though by then his teammates were too far ahead to catch.
White recorded his quickest lap of the weekend but was disappointed to spin into the gravel in the closing stages, causing his retirement.
In the final race, Foster showed the early pace, setting the fastest lap, but Armstrong and Clark both responded by themselves setting quick times and, with little between them, there would be no change of position to the flag.
In Am, White made up one place on the opening lap and tried to make a move for fourth, before having a spin. He recovered well but just ran out of time to make up any more ground, crossing the line 2.7 seconds behind the car ahead.
The Porsche Sprint Challenge GB returns to action over the weekend of May 28/29, competing alongside the British Touring Car Championship at the UK’s fastest circuit, Thruxton, with one race on Saturday and the second live on ITV4 on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Team Parker Racing had a weekend to forget in the British GT Championship.
Hard work by the team was all for naught as a mechanical failure side-lined its Porsche 911 GT3 R, while the 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport was hampered by bad luck.
Hopes were high after Friday’s unofficial test sessions, as the team topped the times in both classes, but things went downhill early in Saturday’s first practice session as Nick Jones brought the GT3 in with a strange sound, which turned out to be a gearbox failure.
It was replaced but a second part failed, meaning the car would not be able to take any part in proceedings.
On the other side of the garage, Jamie Orton suffered a puncture at the start of qualifying and, with a long lap and only ten minutes available, he could only complete two flying laps which left him off the kind of pace he knew he could show.
Seb Hopkins was able to set a more representative time in his session, but on combined times they would line up ninth in GT4 Silver and tenth overall in class.
There was further bad luck on the opening lap of the three-hour Silverstone 500, as Orton again had a puncture, bringing the car in to the pits.
After putting Hopkins aboard, the team then had to serve a stop/go penalty for a short pit stop, before he could settle into a solid stint, setting good lap times.
The team needed a stroke of luck to get the car back into contention for a podium, but it wasn’t forthcoming, meaning the duo would be classified sixth in GT4 Silver and seventh overall.
The team will next be in British GT Championship action at its home circuit of Donington Park for another three-hour race over the weekend of May 28/29.