Parr Motorsport driver Ben Barker (Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography)
Ben Barker declared himself happy after leaving Oulton Park with a 6th and 7th from the two Porsche Carrera Cup GB races.
As the season approaches half-distance Barker, driving the Cheshire track for the first time in a Porsche, was pleased to earn valuable championship points at a difficult to learn circuit.
The 20-year-old said: “Oulton Park is a technical track, where it is important to get the right braking points, but I had never tackled it in the dry before, so that made qualifying a little trickier.
“The outcome wasn't ideal, but was the best we could do in the circumstances.”
The Parr Motorsport driver's only previous Oulton experience came during a wet Formula Ford weekend three years previously and, having missed the pre-season Carrera Cup test, he was playing catch-up when practice began on Friday.
A wet practice session meant when the weather cleared up for qualifying on Saturday his task began all over again, but he would line up 7th and 8th for Sunday's races.
Barker made a decent getaway to race one as Glynn Geddie's mistake elevated him to 6th, before an aggressive move on Richard Plant at the chicane a lap later saw him take 5th.
He managed to fend off a charging Rory Butcher for several laps but there was no denying him forever, and the Parr driver was pushed back to sixth place with four laps remaining.
The 18-lap encounter provided further information for the team to work with, and Barker headed to the grid for race two with more confidence in his set-up. Despite holding his eighth position at the start he was caught out by fluids spilt by another car on the second lap, causing him to lose a place.
Although he quickly repassed Derek Pierce, the slippery surface made it difficult to repeat the move on Olly Mortimer, and the pair circulated in tandem for the next ten laps, eventually joined by an again-recovering Geddie.
Contact between the pair as the Scot punctured his radiator chasing Barker, who was quick to seize on an error from Mortimer to move up into 7th, where he finished at the flag.
“It wasn't our best weekend in terms of results,” the youngster admitted, “but I think we can be happy with the way our performance progressed.
“We definitely had pace in both car and driver, but just lost too much time as a result of having to come from further down the grid than we have been used to.
“That, in turn, stemmed from being behind everyone else in terms of experience at the start of the weekend, so I think we have to be content to have scored useful points in both races and go from there.
“The season isn't at its halfway point yet, and we're still in touch with the top three in the championship, so there is a long way to go.”
After the six-week gap between races, Barker now has just a fortnight to wait before getting back on track at Croft on June 23/24.
