Team Parker Racing’s Porsche Carrera Cup GB racers scored some strong points in the latest round of the series at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire, with a podium finish for Sam Tordoff the highlight.Tordoff drove a stormer in the first race, which took place on Saturday, to rise from sixth on the grid to third, and continued the momentum that provided him with his breakthrough win last time out at Oulton Park.Ironically, the three race-winning young Yorkshire drivers in the Parker squad – Tordoff, Daniel Lloyd and Richard Plant – started the weekend up against it due to lack of knowledge of their local circuit. None of them had ever raced a Carrera Cup car at Croft (the circuit was not on the calendar in 2011, and Lloyd is a series rookie), and the team’s testing at the venue had been marred by bad weather.Even Friday’s two test sessions featured rain, although Carrera Cup Scholarship winner Lloyd proved his talent by going fastest.Saturday’s qualifying ended with Lloyd gridding fourth for the two races, with Tordoff on the third row for both. Lloyd was unfortunate to have to swerve in avoidance on the second lap of the first race when Michael Meadows dislodged tyres from the chicane barriers and spread them in his path.That promoted Tordoff to fifth, and he then passed Glynn Geddie for fourth in a great manoeuvre, before his pressure on Meadows paid off and he moved up into a podium position. Meanwhile, Lloyd recovered to sixth.In a processional second race, Lloyd headed Tordoff as the duo raced to fourth and fifth positions.Plant had a difficult weekend. A fuel-pressure problem sent him into the pits on the warm-up lap, although he fought back to finish 11th. He again had difficulties in the second race and slipped out of an early position in the top eight. The result means that Tordoff leads the way for Team Parker Racing in the championship; he is in fourth place, just ahead of Lloyd, with Plant in seventh. Team Parker Racing retains second in the teams’ championship. Team principal Stuart Parker said: “Sam drove an absolute blinder in the first race. He did up Geddie like a treat and was all over Meadows and it all paid off. All of them struggled with lack of circuit knowledge because we hadn’t done any proper dry running around there or lapped on new tyres, so it was difficult to step up to the mark. That counted against us in qualifying, although Dan was doing really well until he got bad traffic on his second set of tyres.“Everybody was so evenly matched in the second race, and struggled the same with tyre-wear problems, so it was all down to where you qualified really. But the good thing is that we took as many points as we could get, and we’re continuing to aim higher and higher.“Richard unfortunately didn’t get the results we know he’s capable of, and we’ve got to investigate further any issues we may have. Bearing that in mind he did a sensible job to get valuable points in both races.”PIERCE NARROWLY MISSES OUT ON PRO-AM1 WINS

Derek Pierce took second place in the pro-am1 class in both Porsche Carrera Cup GB races at Croft with his JD Pierce with Team Parker entry.Pierce qualified fourth, but moved up in the first race to apply constant pressure to main rival Ahmad Al Harthy, finishing a very close second.In race two he again moved up to second and ran another solid race, despite having to miss some of Friday’s testing due to business commitments.The results mean Pierce remains second in the pro-am1 standings, with JD Pierce with Team Parker (represented by Lloyd and Pierce) third in the overall teams’ championship.Team principal Stuart Parker said: “Derek had another very good weekend and scored a bagful of points that will help him in the pro-am1 championship. It was a continuation of his very strong season. PRESTIGE EVENTS AHEAD FOR TEAM PARKER RACING Although there is a long break until the next Carrera Cup round at Snetterton, in Norfolk on August 11/12, Team Parker Racing has a busy time coming up. Porsche scholarship winner Daniel Lloyd will drive his Carrera Cup car at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, while Lloyd, Sam Tordoff, Richard Plant and Michael Leonard will all compete in the Porsche Supercup round supporting the British Grand Prix on July 8, against all the international top-liners in the series. As part of the ultra-popular British Touring Car Championship package, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB enjoyed live coverage from Croft on ITV4 and ITV4 HD, and was streamed live at itv.com/touringcars.