Harry King Battles Hard For Brands Hatch Podium

Octane Finance-backed racer Harry King produced one of his traditional battling drives to secure a fine podium finish as the Porsche Carrera Cup GB headed to Brands Hatch for the second round of the campaign.

Defending champion Harry travelled to the Kent circuit - the home circuit for Octane - looking to challenge for his first win of the season, having scored a double podium in the opening round at Snetterton two weeks earlier.

Having set the pace during Friday testing in his Team Parker Racing-run car, Harry came agonisingly close to taking pole position in Saturday's qualifying session; missing out on top spot to title rival Dan Cammish by just 0.027s.

Holding position behind Cammish at the start of the opening race, Harry saw his chance to go the lead in tricky damp condition as the pair headed into lap two, launching his bid for the position going into Paddock Hill Bend.

As Harry slid down the inside, Cammish came across to take the corner and the resultant contact saw his car spin off track, with Harry being delayed as Kiern Jewiss took the race lead. Jewiss would later run off track at Graham Hill Bend to put Harry back into the race lead, despite damage to the front splitter affecting the handling of his car.

A slight moment at Druids however saw him run slightly wide and it allowed Lorcan Hanafin to make a bid for the lead. Slight contact saw Harry run wide onto the damp kerb and he was powerless to prevent the car from spinning into the tyre wall when the rear wheels lost traction.

Forced to retire as a result, Harry was left with work to do in race two when he was handed a grid penalty for the contact with Cammish, meaning he started from twelfth on the grid.

An astonishing opening lap saw Harry vault up the order into sixth spot, clearing both Hanafin and Cammish in the process, and he continued to work his way through the pack in fine style to charge up to the podium places.

With Cammish putting pressure on from behind, Harry produced a fine drive to keep his rival at bay as he secured a solid second place to put more strong championship points on the board.

"Obviously it would have been nice to win this weekend and we certainly had the pace to be on the top step of the podium, but it wasn't to be," he said. "The opening race was unfortunate and I hold my hands up to the fact that I made a mistake at the start, and that left me with work to do in race two.

"I was determined to come through as quick as I could as it was vital to get some good points on the board from that race, and I pushed hard, made some strong decisive overtakes and got up into the podium places. I had to defend well to keep Dan at bay for a long time, so to come away with second place and some strong points on the board is a good result.

"It was important to finish ahead of my main rivals, and hopefully next time out at Oulton Park we can open our win account for the season."

Harry's next outing in the Octane Finance Porsche will come in late July with the third round of the season.