Two wins, two pole positions, one fastest lap, and the only one-two attained by any team in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this season: it was a fabulous weekend for Team Parker Racing in the final round at Brands Hatch.
Leicester racer Stephen Jelley was the team’s ‘man of the match’ – he took both poles and grabbed both wins. But Somerset driver Euan Hankey was on-form too to take second behind Jelley in race two, and Aberdeen charger Glynn Geddie netted the team’s fastest lap after an astonishing charge from a delayed start in the pit-lane to ninth place, during which he passed 14 cars.
In the pro-am1 class, Cornishman Alex Martin took a fifth and then a fourth in his Team Parker Racing entry, meaning he was just one position away from a podium.
Jelley laid the groundwork for his victorious races by taking both pole positions, leaping to the top of the times on his second set of tyres and then taking the fastest ‘second-best’ time to give himself an exclusive grip on the pole spot.
In Saturday’s opening race, Jelley led all the way, but had a nerve-wracking final lap trying to pass a backmarker – he finally pipped newly-crowned champion Tim Harvey by just 0.153 seconds.
“It was all a bit tense,” he said. “I could see the blue flags, but it seemed the backmarkers couldn’t! But I knew if I planted the car on the inside of each corner that Tim would have to drive around the outside. Thanks to all the guys at the team, because this win definitely should have come before now.”
Hankey held fourth, under pressure from Geddie, and then the duo moved up to third and fourth when the driver in front spun. Unluckily for Hankey, he then sustained a right-rear puncture, lost a lap in the pits and finished 20th – one day after he lost much of his running on the test day when a screw flicked up by team-mate Jelley put a hole in his radiator…
Geddie therefore took third, on the pace of the leading duo: “I didn’t get up to third quickly enough. I felt I had the pace but I’d dropped back too far.”
In Sunday’s race, Jelley once again led all the way. “You’re always a little bit on edge when the others aren’t far away, but I just had to concentrate and minimise the mistakes,” he said. “I just kept a little bit in the tank and put some fast laps in when we caught the backmarkers. It was a great weekend, and the car was mega.”
Hankey took a strong second, just 1.178 seconds behind his team-mate after soaking up pressure throughout: “I had nothing left in me because I’m unwell with tonsillitis, but I had the pace to defend my second place and I’m really happy to finish the season on a high.”
This time it was Geddie’s turn for bad luck. When the team came to fire the car up it wouldn’t start, because the flywheel ring gear had stripped. The team had to quickly take the gearbox out to change the flywheel, and the Scotsman started late from the pit-lane. It was seemingly a lost cause, but a great drive to rescue good points.
The final weekend meant that Jelley pipped Geddie and Hankey to third in the points.
Team principal Stuart Parker said: “I’m absolutely over the moon with the weekend. They say you’re only as good as your last race, so what a result to go into the winter with. Stephen and Euan were great and I’m delighted for them, and Glynn drove fantastically – that was a question of what might have been. Alex is understanding the car more and coming into his own as he settles into the team. We’re the only team to get a one-two this year, so I’m delighted.”
The Porsche Carrera Cup GB again enjoyed live coverage of its second race at Brands Hatch on ITV4, and was streamed live on itv.com. The weekend crowd figure was 45,000.
