Team Parker Racing headed to Snetterton for rounds five and six of the British GT Championship season, where Seb Hopkins and Jamie Orton almost claimed a maiden victory, while Nick Jones and Scott Malvern did the best they could in challenging circumstances.

Nick and Scott, in their SD Sealants Porsche 911 GT3 R, worked hard throughout testing, practice, and warm up, while the crew also tried several fixes and set up changes to bring the car into a competitive position, but ultimately are struggling with performance balancing restrictions.

Heading into qualifying, Nick finished tenth in GT3 Pro-Am, while Scott was eighth. Jamie emerged seventh in GT4 Silver, with Seb grabbing fourth on his final lap, disappointed to have made a small error which he felt cost time.

Both cars started the opening one-hour race well, Nick gaining two places, while Jamie gained four positions in the opening four laps to run in third. After an excellent pit stop, Seb emerged in second and quickly reeled in Marco Signoretti, battling for the victory.

As a GT3 car lapped the pair, Seb spotted an opportunity into Brundle but found the door closed and the pair made contact, which the stewards judged to be Seb’s fault, handing out a ten second stop/go penalty which was converted to a 32.1 second time penalty, dropping the car to from first across the line to sixth in GT4 Silver. There was a similar story on the other side of the garage as Nick was judged to have been at fault with contact early in the race, the car receiving the same penalty.

The second race of the day was a lower key affair, Seb gaining five positions early on as the car started from the rear of the field, but both he and Jamie struggled with understeer and were unable to make further progress. In GT3, Scott found himself stuck behind a rival and couldn't line up overtaking moves. After the pit stops, Nick crossed the line ninth overall and seventh in Pro-Am, scant reward for all the team’s hard work.

There was a highlight for Jamie, however, as he took home the Sunoco award for setting the fastest GT4 lap of the weekend. The next round of the British GT Championship takes place at Spa-Francorchamps over the weekend of July 23/24, where the team will be hoping for a better outcome.

Nick Jones

“Where we are with everything, I think it is probably frustrating, but to a degree some of it is a little out of our control. Without testing here, it was always going to put us a little bit on the back foot, but I don't think it would have changed too much. We gave everything that we had and the team worked really hard to try and give us a better package.

“Race one was difficult with picking up the penalty which seems a bit harsh. but it was what it was, and you can't change it. The team as ever left no stone unturned. You don't really want to go into a race making another massive step, so I think we'll just get some testing in, see what we can find amongst ourselves and the other bits are out of our control.”

Scott Malvern

“It's an insult to everyone in the team, we're the only Porsche in the championship and at this track last year, it was the same story. This year, they given us exactly the same BoP and everyone else has sped up a little bit. I don't know what the answer is. The team performed well, our pit stops were good, the car felt as it does at every other race. They changed the BoP overnight, and only took out five kilos in our car.

“I'm really happy with what Nick did this weekend. It was difficult for him because it's frustrating for everybody and it's hard for everyone to stay focused on the job when you know you haven't got a chance. Spa will be interesting because in the 24H tests last week, the Porsches were very competitive.”

Jamie Orton

“It's a shame that we had the penalty, but these things happen. I'm very happy with our performance. I'm really, really enjoying the car, Seb's a great team-mate, and the team are doing a great job. I just think the punishments are not proportionate to the crimes as the whole weekend can be over because of one small slip up.

“I'm enjoying it more and more. I'm enjoying being part of the team and we've got the car working really well. Silverstone was just a bit of a blip, and the team has completely managed to turn that around, so I'm looking forward to the rest of the year. I just hope we can get lucky and have everything go smoothly for once.”

Seb Hopkins

“We've had really good pace and the car has been really strong. Both me and Jamie have driven well and that showed in race one as he managed to get it from seventh to third and I came out second after the pit stop. I was on the back of a Ford, and I went for a move that was on and it closed, we made contact, and it resulted in a penalty. I think crossing the line first shows that we've got the pace and we deserve the win.

“Race two was just pretty average to be honest. We made a lot of places early on and then just struggled a lot with the understeer of the car. We just couldn't get any more out of it, so I think we've done a good job. It's been a very up and down weekend and once again, our results do not reflect our pace in the slightest. I think our car will suit Spa. I've never actually been there but I think it should be a good learning curve and hopefully, fingers crossed, our results will reflect our pace.”