taints solid weekend for Hancock

A sizeable slice of bad luck took the shine off an otherwise solid weekend for Sam Hancock at the opening round of the 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season.

In his first race with Jota Sport, a debut victory seemed there for the taking after Hancock made a stunning start in race 1 from fifth on the grid to lead into the first corner - only for him to be taken out by spinning pole sitter Tim Bridgman. Race 2 saw him post his first points of the year with a strong drive to 4th place.

Race 1

Having qualified 5th, Sam made the late decision to go with wet tyres on a damp circuit and immediately reaped the benefit with a flying start that saw him lead on the approach to turn 1. Sadly, his race would end in the Paddock Hill Bend gravel trap when, as he turned in for the corner, poleman Tim Bridgman, who had dropped back to third, lost control of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car under braking and collected Hancock, taking them both out of the race.

Race 2

Race 2 was less incident-packed, but saw Hancock fighting with chronic understeer throughout. Having held his fifth position off the line, Sam tried valiantly to close on the cars ahead, but couldn’t narrow the gap as his tyres degraded rapidly. He did however inherit fourth place at the finish after a big accident for third-place Bridgman eliminated the Team Parker Racing driver from the race.

Hancock said: “Given that we’re a brand new team, I’ve been really impressed this weekend– mechanically the cars have been faultless and, while we’ve still got to find some pace, every other aspect of the team has been exceptional, which is of huge credit to all the guys who have worked so hard. Of course I was bitterly disappointed to be taken out of race 1, because I could’ve repaid the boys with a win. Our late gamble to switch to wets was absolutely the right move and it’s a shame we didn’t get to capitalise on it. You can be sure though that we’ll come out fighting at Rockingham and try to make up the lost ground!”