Gamble wins hard fought race at Oulton Park as Hawkey collects maiden Pro-Am win

George Gamble put behind the disappointment of Croft in the perfect way, taking victory at round eight of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, at Oulton Park, ahead of Lewis Plato and Dan Harper.

Following victory in round seven, race winner Dan Harper drew the number five at random, putting Jamie Orton on pole position, with rookie Tom Roche alongside him on the front row. The second row would feature George Gamble and Lewis Plato, with Harper lining up in fifth place.

Due to hold ups earlier in the day, the race was reduced from the scheduled eighteen laps down to fifteen; Despite the shortened distance, the action wouldn’t be lacking.

Orton led the field away from the start, holding on to the top spot in to Old Hall corner as Gamble leapfrogged Roche to take second place.

In Pro-Am, pole sitter Karl Leonard held position ahead of Esmee Hawkey and Jack McCarthy, whilst in Am class championship leader Justin Sherwood made a strong start to lead rookie John Ferguson and round seven winner Peter Kyle-Henney. Sherwood’s lead wouldn’t last long as he received a ten-second penalty for jumping the start, while he led on the track, he was losing ground in the overall order.

Back at the front Plato took third place away from Roche at the end of the second lap, closely followed by Dan Harper as the Welshman dropped to fifth postion.

Orton held the lead, until lap six, when Gamble lined up a pass through Lodge Corner, finalising the move into Old Hall corner, and from that point commanded the race from the front of the pack.

In Pro-Am there were position changes too, this time as a result of Leonard running off of the circuit, losing to Hawkey and McCarthy.

In the Am class Sherwood was leading the way on track but still had the time penalty hanging over his head, after pushing on he was fifteen seconds ahead of Ferguson and Kyle-Henney by lap twelve, overcoming the penalty to keep hold of the class lead.

At the front of the pack Gamble was pulling away from Orton whilst Harper was trying to make his way around Plato for the final podium place. On numerous occasions, it looked as if the 18-year-old had done enough to get the upper hand on his main championship rival, but Plato hung on to the position, calmly defending his place.

The race ended with Gamble taking victory by over three and a half second to Orton, with Plato securing third and Harper settling for fourth place. In the Pro championship, Harper added twenty-one points to his total to edge away from Plato a further five points at the halfway point.

In Pro-Am Esmee Hawkey drove a confident race to take her maiden victory in the series ahead of McCarthy and Leonard. Hawkey’s victory closes the championship battle up with Leonard in the Pro-Am class to just nine points with McCarthy a further nine points adrift.

The GT Marques driver rounded out the weekend with the Driver of the weekend award, while the team took the Team of the Weekend accolade.

In Am class Justin Sherwood managed to extend his lead in the race ahead of the second placed John Ferguson enough for the earlier penalty for the false start to not affect the final outcome; Peter Kyle-Henney took the final podium spot in class with Sherwood now leading the championship by twenty-three points.

Fastest laps went to Harper, Hawkey and Sherwood to add another point to their championship campaigns as the series takes a break until the weekend of the 16/17 August when racing returns to the fastest circuit in the UK at Thruxton.

*10-second penalty for false start