Parr Motorsport driver Peter Kyle-Henney took a decisive ProAm2 victory at Snetterton in round 9 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.
The Hampshire-based driver dropped a position off the rolling start grid but kept out of trouble and applied pressure on the leading duo who were, at time, only inches in front of him. Peter planned out the move in his head and made it along the Bentley straight, clinging to the outside line with his rivals on the inside. He pulled alongside to take the corner as they ran out of road, taking to the grass on the inside of the circuit. This left Peter unchallenged as he rolled off the laps to take his debut class victory.
Teammate Sean Hudspeth was not so fortuitous as a tap on the opening lap spun him down the order. The Singaporean-driver quickly recovered and set about making up for lost time but snatched a rear brake overtaking John McCullagh into the hairpin and spun once again. Fifth place in class and a points finish was scant reward for his efforts but his speed was clear to see.
Peter Kyle-Henney – 1st in ProAm2
It was really good. At the start I got stuck behind John a little bit but the start was as we predicted going, two by two into the first corner. It was all pretty fair driving and I’d made the decision to get through turn two and then decide what happened after that. I pushed and slotted into third but I was chasing them all the way around. There was nothing in it time wise, and I think Adrian Barwick was holding us up. You can’t overtake two cars at once here so I was pushing Tautvydas Barstys and he made a mistake coming down to Bomb Hole. I’d worked out where I was going to make the move and got on the outside going down Bentley Straight. The two leaders were on the defensive on the inside. I came up alongside and I managed to get the car turned and saw them heading for the grass as they couldn’t make the corner so it was a really good result.”
Sean Hudspeth – 5th in ProAm1
“The start of the race was alright, there was a bit of argy bargy but it was okay. I tried to go around the outside of Dan McKay into Agostini. He went defensive so I cut back and as I was at the apex someone hit me and I went off the track and onto the grass. I got dirty on my tyres so the next couple of corners were really tough but that’s racing. We’ll stay positive though and see what we can do in the next race. “
Ben Barker – Driver Coach
“Sean got into trouble at the start and couldn’t really come back from it because everyone is in the same car in Cup racing, unless people come together as they did for Peter. He drove well, he waited and was faster than the guys in front so he really deserved to win. He put the pressure on them to make the mistake.”
Paul Robe – Team Principal
“Brilliant! You can never be unhappy about a victory. We knew Peter had the pace, the start didn’t go quite as we had planned but he got his head down and was pressurising Barstys in front of him. At the end of the day there was going to come a time when he had the opportunity to overtake, however it turned out that the decision was made for him and the win was handed to him on a plate. We can’t take anything away from Peter though because he drove really well and put the pressure on which, to a degree, caused the way in which the race turned out.“
We’ve got to be happy with it. He was nearly fastest lap by four thousandths of a second so we know we’ve got the pace and that he can do the job. It was a bit difficult for Sean getting tapped and having to come back through the group. He was obviously aggressive but he spun and that put us on the back foot. We got fifth place though and you’ve just got to keep working at it, learn from it and that’s what he’s got to do.”