Team Parker Racing made a positive step forward in its British GT Championship campaign with front-running pace in a three-hour race at local circuit, Leicestershire’s Donington Park, at the weekend (May 28/29).

After a mechanical problem ruled them out at Silverstone last time out, Nick Jones and Scott Malvern found their rhythm in the SD Sealants Porsche 911 GT3 R, while Jamie Orton and Seb Hopkins fell just seconds short of a maiden podium finish in the Moneybarn Vehicle Finance Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

Showing strong pace in pre-event testing on Thursday, the team continued that form into practice, topping the times in both GT3 and GT4 for the first session and having a strong run in the second, working on getting both drivers time behind the wheel and preparing for qualifying later that afternoon.

In that session, as well as in the race itself, track limits played a part, with both GT3 drivers having times removed, leaving them seventh in Pro-Am and 11th overall. On the other side of the garage, a fault on the car meant Jamie had a loss of power, causing him to come back into the pits, which meant he was unable to set a representative lap time. Seb recorded the second fastest time in his period, underlining the pace in the car, though the pair would start from the back of the field.

Both Nick and Jamie made up places in the early laps of the race on Sunday, the latter slowly picking off GT4 rivals before an early Safety Car 30 minutes in the contest changed things up. In GT3 a smart strategy call by lead engineer Ben Newman vaulted the car up to third overall and almost a lap ahead of most of the field, but frustratingly cars were then waved through, eliminating that advantage.

Behind, a small error during the GT4 stop, where the car exited the pit lane with a red light showing, meant a ten-second stop/go penalty which dropped it back from third in class to sixth. From there all four drivers continued to perform well in both machines, Scott having a good battle for second place with Euan Hankey, while Seb battled with an Aston Martin.

In the end neither car quite had the stroke of luck it needed to claim silverware, the GT3 losing power in the last two laps, while the GT4 crossed the line just four seconds behind second place while catching it rapidly, after completing 106 laps.

The British GT Championship returns to action over the weekend of June 25/26 for rounds five and six of the 2022 season, where there will be two one-hour contests around the three-mile Snetterton, in Norfolk.

Nick Jones

“It's a hard race, the car felt good, I enjoyed it, the boys did a great job, and the team did a good job all weekend. We had a few problems at the end with the car but nothing more could be done. We gained a lap, but the race director then waved a load of cars through so that call got muffled a little bit.

We completed a race, so that's three hours under our belts. I haven't actually done that much racing this year, missing Silverstone, and we didn't do a huge amount of pre-season testing either, so I suppose we were always on the back foot a little bit. I think we recovered well to give a good account of ourselves, Scott was fast in qualifying, and the team did a great job.”

Scott Malvern

“We made another step forwards with the car, certainly compared to Oulton Park. At Silverstone we were quick on the Friday test, but never saw that translated into the race or anything like that, so we're just seeing where we are.

“We made some big positive steps here. I think we understand what we're trying to achieve with the tyres which are different this season. I’m really pleased with our performance, everyone's working really hard, and we just missed out on the luck today. Ben [Newman, lead engineer] made an amazing call with the Safety Car and the first pitstop but, for whatever reason, it was decided that the lapped cars were going to get waved around which obviously then puts us into the wars.”

Jamie Orton

“We’ve come into this weekend, and the car was completely different to Silverstone. That's all credit to the team, really, they've turned it around, gone away, done some homework, and come up with a new approach. I felt I had the pace on people around me and the car was really good to drive. The pace was there, it just wasn't our day.

“If I put myself in Seb's shoes, and I've not been in a position like that with the Safety Car, where you have to stop in the pit lane, it's a very easy mistake to make and these things happen. If it wasn't for that, we probably would have won.”

Seb Hopkins

“Given where we were where we started, I think we did everything we could have done. We knew we were going to be fast and that was reflected by gaining nine or ten places overall. It was a shame that we didn’t quite make the podium, it's one of those things where you think “we could have, should have, would have” if we hadn't had the penalty for the pit stop, but it is what it is, and I think we have done a pretty good job.

“It was good fun racing, especially against the Aston so I hope it looked good on TV! Hopefully we can show that we can do it again at Snetterton. It's a good long track and perhaps our car will suit it. I’m feeling confident as I think we're on a progression now, so maybe we'll be coming home with some silverware next time.”