Harry King strengthens Carrera Cup Deutschland challenge with double podium
Harry King has moved back into the top three in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland standings after scoring a double podium finish during a dramatic weekend of racing at the Red Bull Ring.
The rising star headed for the Austrian circuit - a venue where he has enjoyed plenty of success in the past - looking to rebound from a challenging meeting at the Sachsenring, where contact from rival drivers had dropped him out of contention for the championship title.
Harry qualified in fourth place on the grid for the opening race of the weekend and when the action got underway, he managed to get ahead of team-mate Bastian Buus as the field headed up to turn three for the first time, sliding up the inside of his fellow Allied-Racing driver to move into the podium places.
Easing away from Buus, Harry settled into second before the safety car was called out to clear up debris on the circuit, with the young charger seeing his chance to pressure Loek Hartog for position when the action got back underway.
Again making his move on the run up the hill to turn three, Harry cleared Hartog for second and then raced away from the battle for third spot to secure a podium finish that moved him back into the top three in the championship standings.
Starting race two from second on the grid, Harry retained his place on the run to turn one having been squeezed towards the pit wall by Hartog, but then got a run going up to turn three on lap two - with the young Briton forced to try and go around the outside.
Harry then held position alongside Hartog all the way down to turn four, where he was again forced to take the outside line - holding on through turn five to eventually get the inside line into turns six and seven.
Harry completed the move on the exit of turn seven despite slight contact as his car bounced off the inside kerb, with team-mate Buus following him through into second to make it an Allied-Racing one-two on track.
As Harry looked to clear the battle for second place, he was controversially told to drop back behind Hartog on track, leaving him with no option but to give up his advantage and slot in behind the Dutch driver in third.
Forced wide by Larry Ten Voorde a lap later, Harry dropped back to fourth spot and would then battle hard to try and reclaim his place on the podium as the clock ticked down towards zero.
Once again trying round the outside at turn four, Harry managed to sneak ahead of the multiple champion despite being run wide through turn five - going up the inside into turn six before Ten Voorde ran wide across the gravel.
Mindful of the earlier penalty, Harry allowed his rival back ahead but a lap later, he held the outside line from turn three right round to the exit of turn five in order to secure the ideal line for turn six - where he swept through into third place.
The double podium means Harry sits third in the standings and will go into the season finale at Hockenheim firmly in contention for the runner-up slot.
"The Red Bull Ring proved to be another action-packed weekend, and whilst it's unfortunate that I wasn't able to secure another race win, two podium finishes means a good haul of points for the championship," he said.
"After a solid result in race one, I think the victory was ours in race two before we got the penalty as I'd been able to build a gap at the front, but losing those two positions and dropping back into a battle with Larry changed everything.
"Even then, the battle with him was really enjoyable, as he is a driver that I have a lot of respect for. He's a deserving champion this year, and my focus going into the final round is to try make sure I secure the runner-up slot."