Team Parker Racing’s Stephen Jelley and Euan Hankey each claimed a third place in the latest round of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Donington Park, but it was Glynn Geddie who secured the team’s biggest points haul of the weekend to put himself three points behind third-placed Jelley in the championship table with one round remaining.
On his local circuit, Leicester man Jelley started the weekend on top form by setting the fastest time in the first of Friday’s two test sessions, but come qualifying it was Somerset racer Hankey on form – he took second on the grid for race one and third for race two.
Aberdonian Geddie was fourth, but slipped to seventh on the grid for race two, while Jelley was fifth and then moved up to third for the second race.
In the opening race, each of the team’s drivers ran in third place! Hankey was looking good, but was unlucky to get hit from behind at one-third distance. With a loose rear bumper, he was forced to pit by officials: quick work from the team meant he was able to rejoin after losing just 20 seconds and recovered to 12th.
Next it was Geddie in third, but he ran wide and lost two places. He recovered to take fourth.
Jelley, who had been hit on the opening lap and had experienced a bruising race, now moved into third and kept the place to score a strong result.
In the second race, Jelley was challenging Hankey for second when he made a move at the chicane that ended in a spin. That put him well down the order, and he recovered to 13th in a drive during which he set a lap time very close to the overall fastest lap.
Hankey could not hold onto second place and conceded the spot to championship leader Tim Harvey, but hung on to claim third. Geddie had a good run to take fifth.
Going into the final weekend, at Brands Hatch on October 9/10, Jelley holds a narrow advantage over Geddie for third in the table, with Hankey in turn only a further 11 points adrift, so there’s everything to play for as far as team honour is concerned.
The team’s Alex Martin skipped this race weekend as he was contesting a clashing GT Cup round at Brands Hatch with Team Parker Racing – two race wins meant that he enjoyed an excellent weekend.
Team principal Stuart Parker said: “We’ve definitely got the speed, and in the second race we should have had a double podium. Stephen especially was really fast, but he just didn’t qualify well, and if you don’t qualify well then you’re not going to win races. It’s frustrating, because everything is there. Euan was unlucky in the first race, while Glynn got some good points and that was encouraging. But we really need to nail it in qualifying at Brands.”
The Porsche Carrera Cup GB again enjoyed live coverage of its second race at Donington Park on ITV4, and was streamed live on itv.com. The next round takes place at Brands Hatch in Kent on October 9/10.
