Parker with Juta's Euan Hankey On His Way To Rockingham Success
Parker with Juta driver Euan Hankey completed a perfect weekend in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham by taking his second victory of the weekend in Round Fifteen, while Michael Meadows retained his championship lead with a fourth place finish.
Hankey dominated qualifying, putting him on pole, with Meadows joining him on the front row. A stunning lap from Richard Plant put him third ahead of championship rivals Stephen Jelley and James Sutton.
Like in the day's earlier race, a superb start from Hankey saw him shot off into the lead, while a mighty first couple of corners from Sutton saw the SAS/Redline driver take second ahead of Jelley and team-mate Meadows.
Hankey and Sutton began to break clear, with Hankey holding a comfortable lead until he started to lap rivals ahead. With many not seeming to eager to get out the leaders way, Sutton was able to close up right on Hankey's tail and made a couple of dives for the lead. Hankey held on though for his fifth win of the season, meaning he now has more wins on the board this season than any other driver.
A five car train ran in close formation for third, but Jelley held off those behind to take third ahead of Meadows. In fifth was Jonas Gelzinis, the Juta Racing driver comfortably taking the Pro-Am1 win in the process, ahead of Plant and Benji Hetherington.
Behind Gelzinis in Pro-Am1 was Derek Pierce, the Scot enjoying a comfortable run to second place and eighth overall, with Ahmad Al Harthy completing the class podium. An absorbing Pro-Am2 battle saw Ozbek fight back from an early spin to take the win, benefitting from George Brewster being forced to pit twice with punctures and Keith Webster having to pit to have an advertising hoarding removed from his car. It was guest racer Chris Dyer who held the lead early on, but Ozbek fought past to take the win, with Steve Parish taking second. A late spin for Dyer saw him drop off the podium, with Webster taking the spot.
Ozbek's fighting performances earned the Turkish racer the 'Driver of the Weekend' award, with Parker with Juta taking the 'Team of the Weekend' honour. Also receiving prizes at Rockingham was Sam Tordoff, the Team Parker Racing driver being the latest driver drawn out of the hat to receive a free set of slick racing tyres from series supplier Michelin, worth more than £1,200.
