Sam Hancock took a podium finish from race 1 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB round at Croft, but missed out on the chance of a race 2 repeat after a tyre gamble back fired.

Race 1

Having qualified fifth, Sam made a good start to pass team mate Phil Quaife off the line for fourth. He then closed up to the lead battle between Tim Bridgman, Stefan Hodgetts and Tim Harvey, but couldn’t force his way into the top three. He did however get to stand on the podium and score 16 championship points, as Hodgetts was racing in the invitational class and therefore didn’t score.

Race 2

Following torrential rain throughout the day, the entire field lined up on wets for the warm up lap. But on a drying track pole man Tim Harvey and a number of other drivers opted to sacrifice their grid positions to pit for slicks and start the race from the pit lane. Hancock, starting third, and second placed Tim Bridgman gambled to stay out on wets but soon regretted their decision. After only a handful of laps they were ten seconds slower than the slick shod cars and losing ground rapidly. Sam took the difficult decision to pit mid-race and bolt on dry tyres to limit his losses. Having rejoined last, he fought back through the field, but could only secure eighth by the chequered flag.

Hancock: “It was the right decision to pit mid-race because I finished further up the road than I would have done had I continued on wets. Unfortunately though, the decision that really mattered was the one on the formation lap and disappointingly my gamble didn't pay off. A podium from race 1 this weekend was a nice result though so there are certainly some positives to take away from this event and as ever we'll come out fighting in the next round."