Team Parker Racing began its British GT Championship campaign over Easter weekend at Oulton Park in Cheshire, leaving the venue with a feeling of what might have been for both its GT3 and GT4 machines.

Returning for another season together were Nick Jones and Scott Malvern in their Porsche 911 GT3 R, hoping to build on an enjoyable weekend in 2021 where they started on pole position and claimed a podium and fifth place. The pair were joined by debutants Jamie Orton and Seb Hopkins, partnering in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport and aiming for class success.

On the GT3 side of the garage it quickly became apparent that the rear-engine Porsche was struggling to generate sufficient heat on the front of the car, with a new compound of Pirelli tyre introduced this season. Chasing the setup throughout the weekend, the team worked hard and were able to continually improve the performance of the car, albeit without any reward.

In the opening contest, Nick drove well and kept out of trouble as other cars went off track, handing over to Scott at the mid-race mark. Unfortunately, side contact from a GT4 car damaged the valve on one of his tyres, causing a trip to the pits for repairs and, ultimately, retirement.

For Jamie and Seb in their brand-new GT4, the weekend brought hope of a podium finish, but bad luck thwarted the duo’s best efforts to claim some silverware. In the opening race both performed well with Jamie handing over the car in third place, but sadly Seb would have to serve a short stop-go penalty for a pitstop infringement. He resumed ninth in the Silver class and made up several positions in the closing stages to cross the line sixth.

A sprinkle of rain before race two had teams guessing, but the race got underway without much drama. However, as the pit window opened a shower soaked several corners which caused competitors to go off track. Scott was in his element, climbing from 15th to pit from eighth, while Seb recovered well from a spin in the rain, with both diving into the pits for wet tyres while other teams remained on track.

Looking to gain a good advantage with the smart calls, any hope of gaining ground was swiftly nullified as the race was halted for barrier repairs. Race organisers ultimately decided to restart the race with cars in the positions they were prior to the opening of the pit window, allowing teams to change drivers and tyres during the stoppage.

When the race restarted, Nick did well to avoid a spinning car but lost momentum which allowed rivals to gain on him and sneak past, finishing seventh in GT3 Pro-Am. Jamie was also driving well, up from sixth to fourth and challenging for a GT4 Silver podium, but was hit in an opportunistic move which spun him down to sixth, with the guilty driver handed a post-race penalty for the incident.

The team will now continue to work on improving the setup and performance of both cars in tests at Silverstone, which hosts the next round of the season, the marquee three-hour ‘Silverstone 500’ over the weekend of May 7/8.

Nick Jones

“There are definitely some positives to take from Oulton Park, the biggest one being that the car finished the weekend far stronger than it started it, but we were on the back foot from the start.

“I ended up doing my fastest race and qualifying laps in a GT3 car, which is always a big confidence boost, it’s just the fact that the grid is such a high level and so close. We’re missing extra time in the car, and hopefully we can make the most of a day or two of testing before Silverstone to help us get back into the mix.”

Scott Malvern

“It certainly wasn’t the sort of opening weekend we’d hoped for, so I think character building is the best way to describe it. We knew we were coming in under-prepared, and that showed even more because of the tyre issue that we didn’t know we had before free practice.

“The team has worked hard, and Nick put in a really good showing in his stints, so there’s definitely potential there. We did what we could and came away with what we could from this one. Hopefully we can find a step change for Silverstone.”

Jamie Orton

“Race one was a bit unlucky. It was a bit of a mistake but that happens in motorsport. In race two I was stuck in traffic with people who I could cruise up behind, but then couldn't get past cleanly. Because of that was backed up and then got taken out by a very ambitious Ford Mustang.

“I hope we can unlock a bit more performance in the car, because whilst it's quick, it's not the quickest and it would be good to be going to Silverstone with a bit more speed in the car. We'll just take each round of the season as it comes.”

Seb Hopkins

“I think there are a lot of positives to take away from this weekend, but there are some negatives as well. We started off so well in qualifying and it really set us up for the two races. Race one was just unlucky – I think the team did such a good job and it was just that one small mistake which cost us a potential podium.

“In race two it was unlucky when the rain happened, and I had a bit of an off which is unfortunate but luckily, I got it back. It was out of Jamie's control when he was taken off and we can't really do anything about it. We'll have to brush ourselves off and go for the next one at Silverstone.”