Hankey wins in Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham

Euan Hankey dominated round 14 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham  (Sunday 18 September) with an emphatic lights-to-flag victory as championship leader Michael Meadows led the pursuit.In a race full of battling and place changing through the field, there was success for international racers as Jonas Gelzinis (Lithuania) bagged another Pro-Am1 victory and Yucel Ozbek (Turkey) clinched his first Pro-Am2 win.Hankey (Parker with Juta) set the seal on his victory with a peach of a start to lead the field through the banked Turn One and into the tight Deane Hairpin. In his wake, Meadows (SAS/Redline) slotted into second and Stephen Jelley (Parker with Juta) briefly dived ahead of James Sutton (SAS/Redline) to take third. But in the melee at Deane on the opening lap Sutton went boldly around the outside to regain third place.Hankey immediately stamped his authority on the race and went away on the opening lap. “I’ve got to make a habit of these starts,” said Hankey, who was able to control the race from the front. “I managed to get a lead on the first lap and concentrated on consolidating that.” While Hankey edged his lead out to around three seconds, Meadows was secure in second but life was anything but secure for Sutton in third. Having squeezed ahead of Jelley on the opening lap, Richard Plant (Team Parker Racing) set about challenging Sutton for the final podium position and chased the SAS car for lap after lap. “Richard kept me honest all the race,” said Sutton, who was only able to put space between himself and Plant during late race lappery.“Our pace was good all the way through,” said Hankey after a clear run to victory. “Massive thanks go to Team Parker Racing.” For Meadows, second place and fastest lap maintained his championship lead. “I just need to keep doing this,” said Meadows. Sutton completed the overall podium from the impressive Plant. “I couldn’t get past Sutton, but I can’t knock that result,” said Plant. Jelley ran fifth, but gradually dropped away from the battle between Sutton and Plant, while Kieran Vernon (Nationwide/Motorbase) continued his strong qualifying form to take sixth.Gelzinis (Juta Racing) always led Pro-Am1, but in overall terms he challenged Vernon and, at the same time, battled to fend off Ben Hetherington (Oman Air/Redline). On the final lap, Hetherington attacked at Tarzan and, after contact, Gelzinis ran wide and lost the place. Hetherington was later given a time penalty to reverse the positions. “It was more or less okay, but on the last lap he touched me,” confirmed Gelzinis. There was drama in the battle for the other Pro-Am1 podium places as Derek Pierce (Dextra/JD Pierce by Parker) came back from a first lap knock to fend off Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline) and Alex Martin (Dextra/JD Pierce by Parker). Eventually, contact from behind put Al Harthy out with a rear puncture and then, on the last lap, contact between Martin and Pierce sent them both spinning. All of that opened the door for George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) to nip through to second as Pierce recovered to salvage third. “I had a slow front puncture and I was just nursing it home,” admitted Richardson. The unfortunate Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) ran a secure second for much of the race before being forced into the pits with a rear puncture.Ozbek (Redline Racing) drove a faultless race to win Pro-Am1 for the first time. “It was a good clean race,” said Ozbek. “I did not know where to be on the first lap, but I survived!” With George Brewster (Celtic Speed) delayed after being tipped off on the first

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