Will Jenkins saw podium pace unfortunately go unrewarded as he produced a battling display during the penultimate round of the 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge GB season at Silverstone (23/24 September).
Following on from a sensational maiden victory in the championship last time out at Donington Park, Jenkins was straight back on the leading pace from the off at Silverstone in his Century Motorsport prepared Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.
Jenkins, who is competing this season as part of BTCC team Motorbase Performance’s Young Driver Programme with support from Wera Tools, finished as the fastest Pro driver during free practice on Friday and went on to set the fourth best time during qualifying the next morning.
Unfortunately a post-session investigation deemed him to have overtaken another car under yellow flags during the session though, resulting in the harsh penalty of being disqualified from the session and having to start the opening two races from last on the grid.
He also received the added punishment of having to start 10 seconds later than the rest of the field in race one. Facing a real uphill battle to make progress in a very competitive field, he impressively posted the fastest lap of the race as he caught the pack and climbed to 12th overall.
With no additional time penalty for the start of race two, Jenkins was able to immediately go on the offensive in tricky, wet conditions. Rising seven places on the opening lap alone, he eventually worked his way up to ninth overall and sixth of the Pro class contenders.
Jenkins, who races with the support of loyal personal partners Hopkins Motorsport, Asset Alliance Group, The Reefer Trailer Centre and Culina Group, lost ground avoiding a spinning car on the opening lap of race three. A strong run from there saw him post another fastest lap en-route to a ninth place finish.
Will Jenkins: “Unfortunately the penalty from qualifying turned the weekend on its head for us, and prevented us from really showing what we can do in the races. It’s a harsh penalty and ultimately meant race one was a right off for us, but I’m glad I was able to make some progress in the next two.
“To go fastest in class during free practice, qualifying up in the lead pack and then get a couple of fastest laps in the races shows the pace we have. We’ll take that big positive, regroup and come back stronger for the final rounds at Brands Hatch.”
The 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge season finale takes place next month on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit (07/08 October).
Image from Porsche GB.