and Jota Sport

Sam Hancock took 16th place on his Porsche Supercup debut at Magny-Cours at the weekend, stepping up from the Carrera Cup Great Britain to the prestigious grand-prix support series.

The London-based driver, whose Jota Sport team entered the race in association with the ToLimit team, faced a steep learning curve in the ultra-competitive championship, Hancock qualifying 22nd, just over a second shy of the pole time.

A strong first half of the race saw the twenty-eight year old climb to 13th overall by mid distance, until a tag from behind dramatically dislodged his Porsche 997’s rear bumper, leaving it flapping behind the car, compromising both handling and straight-line speed. For the final seven laps Hancock defended from the chasing pack as best he could and ultimately reached the chequered flag in 16th position.

Hancock said: “The whole purpose of this weekend was to dip-a-toe in the Supercup water. With no testing we knew we’d be up against it and, sure enough, we struggled in qualifying; but up until the hit I think we held our own during the race. This has been a great learning experience for me and the team and I’d like to say a big thank you to the ToLimit for their help and to the Supercup organisers for inviting us to compete. It’s an amazingly slick and well-run championship and I can’t wait for the next round at Silverstone, where hopefully we can come out fighting and move further up the field.”