King left to wonder what might have been
Motoracing: Clash in qualifying leaves Harry battling for minor places
Holyport’s Harry King was left to wonder what might have been at Spa after an incident in qualifying hampered his chances of finishing on the podium in the latest round of the Mobil 1 Porsche Supercup.
The BWT Lechner Racing driver headed to the Belgian circuit off the back of a career-best second place finish at Paul Ricard in France, but an unfortunate clash in qualifying left him battling for the minor placings after starting from eighth on the grid.
King was on for a potential pole lap after setting the fastest time through the first sector, however, his flying lap was slowed significantly after being tagged by the car of Howard Blank while overtaking on turn 13.
After a chaotic opening lap,
King managed to make up a spot to sneak into seventh behind teammate Bastian Buss. He was able to put pressure on the young Dane before squeezing through on his inside going into Les Combes on lap three.
The young Holyport driver then set off in pursuit of Lorcan Hanafin and was able to halve the deficit within a lap, locking onto the back of his rival.
Once again King made his move at Les Combes on lap seven, initially running wide before switching back to take fifth place heading into the hairpin at Bruxelles.
The young Brit showed storming pace in the final laps to chase down Marvin Klein but wasn’t quite able to make up the gap of more than three seconds before the chequered flag was waved.
Given the circumstances this fifth-place finish was creditable, and leaves King fourth in the points table as the series heads to Zandvoort in the Netherlands next weekend for the penultimate meeting of the season.
“After mixed conditions in practice, I don’t think anyone really knew where they stood going into qualifying which set up quite an exciting session although for me, it would prove to be exciting for the wrong reasons,” King said.
“On the first run we were sitting in P3 but then we didn’t get the chance to show what we could do on our second run on new tyres when an Am car disrupted my lap.
“To come from eighth on the grid to take fifth isn’t bad by any means on this grid, but with the pace we have shown in recent events, my expectations coming into the weekend were higher and I was hoping for more.
“Although there is some disappointment, we’ve been able to score solid points for the championship and have been able to retain our place in the standings, and my determination to now score big in the final two rounds has only increased.”