Hooker Keeps British GT Champinship Dream Burning

16 August 2006

MSportUK Featured Driver, Ryan Hooker took two superb second places at the latest round of the British GTC Championship held at Rockingham, Northamptonshire keeping him firmly in the hunt of the Championship title.

Ryan was partnered in the Trackspeed Porsche by Phil Keen for this event. Coming into the weekend in third position in the British GTC Championship, Ryan was eager to pull in points with the top spot still firmly in his sights.

Though he had never raced at Rockingham before, Ryan soon got up to speed and was ably aided by team-mate Phil Keen who knew the track well and was able to offer valuable insights. The weekend was once again a double header format with hour long races scheduled on both Saturday and Sunday.

Phil used his local knowledge and speed in qualifying to put his and Ryan's car at the head of the GTC class for Race One. Ryan also put in a strong performance in a competitive second qualifying session to take fourth quickest of the GTC cars for Race Two.

Saturday afternoon's race got underway in cloudy conditions with Phil taking the wheel for the first stint. Phil made a strong start and came in to handover to Ryan in first place. As Ryan emerged from the pitlane he slotted into second place just centimetres behind the new leaders, Lang/Allison in the sister Trackspeed Porsche. A nose to tail battle commenced with a concertina effect as the Lang/Allison Porsche pulled away on the straights but with Ryan reeling them in on the corners. A slight electrical problem hampered Ryan's assault and he found himself passed by Mortimer in the RPM Porsche. But Mortimer clashed with a Lotus he was lapping, forcing him out of the race and Ryan inherited second place; a change of luck for the battling Essex driver!

Second place was a great result, given the problems they had driven through and better news to come was that Ryan's latest points saw him promoted to second overall in the Championship!

Race Two on Sunday was in much brighter conditions and this time Ryan started the race. Ryan lifted the car from fourth in class to second and was involved in an exciting ding-dong battle with Mortimer in the RPM Porsche. Mortimer pipped Ryan for that second place as the pit window opened and the driver change-overs took place. An excellent pitstop saw Phil take-over from Ryan and able to get onto the track in a solid position. A strong final stint saw Phil bring the car home in second place, a case of déjà vu for him and Ryan!

With the overall Championship leaders finishing in fifth place, this meant Ryan ate a further two points into their lead to bring it down to just six points with two rounds remaining.

"It has been a good, consistent weekend" said Ryan. "Phil proved to be an excellent team-mate for the weekend and his circuit insights were a great help. There were little niggles but for once the luck was on our side and I've been able to come away with a healthy set of points, move up the Championship table and stay in contention for the title. It's still all to play for!"

The next round of the British GT Championship is at Brands Hatch on 26-27th August.

RHPR

See 2006 series calendar for British GT Championship

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