Leicestershire outfit Team Parker Racing claimed two wins in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB as Harry King finished first overall and Justin Armstrong emerged victorious in the Am class, while Kiern Jewiss and Ryan Ratcliffe also added podium finishes at Silverstone.
It was a tougher weekend for Justin Sherwood however, as the Am class leader – aiming for his third-straight title – retired from race one in an unfortunate incident and couldn’t compete in race two, the first time he hasn’t finished first or second this season.
Coming into the weekend Kiern had his sights set on the overall championship title after taking victory at Croft one week earlier. He lined up second on the grid for the opening contest, one spot ahead of Harry, but Ryan struggled in Pro-Am and was only sixth quickest in qualifying. In the Am class, Justin Sherwood pipped his team-mate Justin Armstrong, with the pair starting second and third respectively.
At the start of the first 28-lap race it was Harry who launched off the line well and settled into second, while Kiern dropped back to fourth but quickly regained third with a good pass on Dan Cammish on the run to Becketts. Ryan claimed a spot in Pro-Am, Justin Sherwood remained second in Am, but Justin Armstrong, having claimed the class lead, went off at Brooklands before recovering in fifth.
The Safety Car was called on lap four and remained out until lap 13, with Ryan gaining fourth in the Pro-Am class and Justin Armstrong fourth in Am, while Harry fought past Lorcan Hanafin for the lead and Kiern almost followed him through.
However, Justin Sherwood moved on the inside of Am class leader Josh Stanton at Luffield and was sent into a spin before being collected by the unsighted David Shaw, ending both drivers’ weekends and causing the race to be red flagged 11 laps short of the original duration, meaning Harry took the win but Kiern didn’t have the opportunity to claim second.
With the top four drivers reversed for race two, Harry started fourth but took third as Kiern fell to fifth, however it was Justin Armstrong in the Am class who had the best launch, racing from third to first, while Kiern fought his way into fourth. Harry put pressure on Hanafin but then began to fall back from the leaders and was passed by Will Martin, while Kiern also struggled for pace eventually finishing seventh.
In Pro-Am Ryan claimed third at the flag while Justin had an exciting race, running wide whilst in the lead and falling back but got his head down to close back in and when Stanton and Lucky Khera came together, reclaimed the lead which he wouldn’t relinquish, also meaning he closes to within 12 points of Justin Sherwood in the standings.
The team will be back in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB in just two weeks’ time at its home circuit of Donington Park, over the weekend of October 9-10.
Kiern Jewiss
G1 – 2, R1 – 3
G2 – 2, R2 – 7
Championship: 3 (77 points)
Rookie Championship: 1 (172 points)
“Race one looked good and you could say Harry and I had the fastest race cars out there but race two we don’t really know what happened. It’s our first time directly following the BTCC, and we had two of the slowest race cars. We’ll have to go back to the drawing board and figure out where to improve if we want to have a good result in the championship as the race pace just wasn’t there.
“We didn’t have the grip at the rear, so we’ll figure out what is going on – something is missing but we don’t know what it is just yet. You always go home on your last result, so it is what it is. We’ll aim to have a mega last two rounds, and anything can happen, so it’s not over.”
Harry King
G1 – 3, R1 – 1
G2 – 3, R2 – 4
Championship: 4 (67 points)
“We had the fastest lap and we had plenty of pace in the car so getting the win was a really good start to things, but then in race 2 it became a bit more difficult. We went from being the quickest car to not, which was a bit frustrating because I felt racy, I felt good at the start, but it’s almost like something bizarre happened and we just lost pace. I had a little bit of contact with Lorcan [Hanafin], but the pace was still good after that. Seeing the front two battling, I felt left out so to speak, but we’ll have our chance to get back at them at Donington Park.
“I’m sure we’ll come back fighting. We had a win and a second place at Donington last year, my first weekend in the Carrera Cup, so it’ll be nice to see what’s in store for us.”
Ryan Ratcliffe
G1 – 6, R1 – 4
G2 – 4, R2 – 3
Pro-Am Championship: 1 (97 points)
“I think I put myself under a lot of pressure in qualifying and didn’t deliver. I made a lot of mistakes and started the weekend off really badly considering that the pace had been there in testing. It was quite frustrating to qualify where we did and put ourselves on the back foot for the rest of the weekend.
“Race one was damage limitation. We finished fourth on the road and then because [Pepe] Massot wasn’t a full championship entry we got P3 points which was good. In the second race I think it was a stroke of luck that [Nathan] Harrison broke down on the line, so he didn’t score points. I got third place on the road but second place points and managed to extend my championship lead, so it was a good weekend championship wise, but performance wise, for me it wasn’t the best. Silverstone National is my least favourite circuit of the year, so to come away extending my lead is a bonus. The last two tracks I really get on with, so I’m looking forward to building on it.”
Justin Sherwood
G1 – 2, R1 – DNF
Am Championship: 1 (109 points)
“It was really close between us through practice. The qualifying was close too and I was disappointed not to be further up. I started third, then I was second behind Josh [Stanton] having managed to get by Justin on the first lap. Just after the Safety Car for Micah Stanley I dived up the inside of Josh at Luffield and I don’t think he could see me, so he came across and hit the front of my car and put me into spin.
“Unfortunately, David [Shaw] was unsighted behind Justin and ended both our weekends. Hopefully we’ll be back for our home event at Donington. The points have trimmed a bit I still have quite a healthy lead.”
Justin Armstrong
G1 – 3, R1 – 3
G2 – 3, R2 – 1
Am Championship: 2 (97 points)
“It’s been quite a difficult weekend. We’ve made a few changes to the car to try to get a better feel, but never really had the true pace all weekend. Qualifying was okay, I don’t think we really maximised what we could have got out of the car and ultimately, we were three tenths off what we should have been doing.
“That put us second for race one and I had an interesting start. I got into first and then unfortunately we had a bit of a coming together at Brooklands, it was a bit messy, a first lap incident and no one’s fault. We had to come back from the rear of the field, dead last, and managed to get third in race one.
“We started third again for race two. I had a good start again, but the other two cars had new left-hand tyres on so a third of the way into the race we were really struggling. I pushed the car too hard to try to maintain a gap and nearly ended up in the wall at turn one and lost time.
“I just got my head down, started to chase as we got towards the end of the race, and I could see that their tyres had lost their best and they were struggling, so I think we’d probably have had the pace to win anyway. Unfortunately, Josh and Lucky had a bit of a coming together and gave me the win, but it was nice to have a bit of good luck for a change.”
Team Parker Racing
Teams’ Championship: 1 (320 points)
Source. Torque
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