{"id":268,"date":"2023-05-02T15:52:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T15:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/?p=268"},"modified":"2023-05-02T15:52:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T15:52:23","slug":"king-bumped-from-navarra-ultimate-cup-podium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/?p=268","title":{"rendered":"KING 'BUMPED' FROM NAVARRA ULTIMATE CUP PODIUM"},"content":{"rendered":"

George King <\/span><\/span>was denied a second successive Ultimate Cup Series win despite setting the LMP3 class pace in round two of the championship at Navarra in northern Spain.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

King and Team Virage co-drivers Mihnea Stefan and Bernardo Pinheiro <\/span><\/span>defied the fact that they had but one UCS start between them to challenge for victory until Navarra's notorious bumps undid the Briton's early efforts and left the team just short of the podium following a second half fightback.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite having spent the <\/span><\/span>two <\/span><\/span>pre-event test <\/span><\/span>days <\/span><\/span>evaluating<\/span><\/span> set-up changes <\/span><\/span>in a bid to<\/span><\/span> find <\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span> sweet spot <\/span><\/span>for the '<\/span><\/span>bumpiest track I\u2019ve ever driven on<\/span><\/span>', King and the #14 <\/span><\/span>Ligier JS P320 were not immune to<\/span><\/span> mechanical problems <\/span><\/span>caused by the undulating surface, and ultimately struggled for one lap pace in qualifying, which left the striking yellow-and-black machine fifth overall and P3 in the LMP3 category. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"No-one escaped problems in testing, <\/i><\/span><\/span>including ourselves, <\/i><\/span><\/span>b<\/i><\/span><\/span>ut <\/i><\/span><\/span>T<\/i><\/span><\/span>eam Virage were quick to replace anything that was looking worn out before it became a bigger problem,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\"<\/i><\/span><\/span> King noted. <\/span><\/span>\"It was <\/i><\/span><\/span>still <\/i><\/span><\/span>a shame that we couldn't quite nail down the set-up ahead of qualifying, <\/i><\/span><\/span>however,<\/i><\/span><\/span> because this series is so competitive.\"<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Once again, as he had in round one at Paul Ricard, <\/span><\/span>King stepped up to take the opening stint of the four-hour race and, despite having to cope with the extraordinarily early <\/span><\/span>8:30<\/span><\/span>am start, made a good getaway, <\/span><\/span>moving up a position <\/span><\/span>before spending<\/span><\/span> the next <\/span><\/span>couple of<\/span><\/span> laps <\/span><\/span>both <\/span><\/span>attacking and defending <\/span><\/span>as he tried <\/span><\/span>to get <\/span><\/span>through<\/span><\/span> as much traffic as possible <\/span><\/span>without<\/span><\/span> be<\/span><\/span>ing<\/span><\/span> held up, <\/span><\/span>before<\/span><\/span> get<\/span><\/span>ting<\/span><\/span> into clear air. <\/span><\/span>When the first safety car interruption occurred after only three laps, Virage opted to pit the #14<\/span><\/span> and top up its<\/span><\/span> fuel <\/span><\/span>load<\/span><\/span>, putting <\/span><\/span>the young trio<\/span><\/span> on an unconventional strategy <\/span><\/span>that it hoped would pay off<\/span><\/span> in the long run.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span><\/span>lthough he had to make a rapid exit from the pits in order to <\/span><\/span>catch the safety car <\/span><\/span>before it unleashed the field, King <\/span><\/span>gradually<\/span><\/span> made <\/span><\/span>his<\/span><\/span> way <\/span><\/span>back up the order, reaching <\/span><\/span>P3 before another safety car <\/span><\/span>intervention was called. A<\/span><\/span> shorter <\/span><\/span>hiatus then <\/span><\/span>allowed <\/span><\/span>the Briton<\/span><\/span> to <\/span><\/span>mount an <\/span><\/span>attack <\/span><\/span>on the cars ahead, although catching and passing proved to be different propositions<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"<\/i><\/span><\/span>The Nova <\/i><\/span><\/span>clas<\/i><\/span><\/span>s <\/i><\/span><\/span>cars<\/i><\/span><\/span> are tricky to get past as they\u2019re around 200kg lighter than an LMP3 and their acceleration makes it hard to set them up a corner before,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\"<\/i><\/span><\/span> King explained. <\/span><\/span>\"<\/i><\/span><\/span>Late braking <\/i><\/span><\/span>eventually <\/i><\/span><\/span>got me <\/i><\/span><\/span>through into<\/i><\/span><\/span> P2 <\/i><\/span><\/span>and hunting down the overall leader, <\/i><\/span><\/span>which was a <\/i><\/span><\/span>rival in<\/i><\/span><\/span> LMP3. <\/i><\/span><\/span>I spent several laps t<\/i><\/span><\/span>rying to force a mistake as it\u2019s so difficult to overtake around Navarra, <\/i><\/span><\/span>before f<\/i><\/span><\/span>aking a dive into the braking zone <\/i><\/span><\/span>at Turn 9. When the leader<\/i><\/span><\/span> locked their front wheels, I snuck up the inside, <\/i><\/span><\/span>finally<\/i><\/span><\/span> getting past into T11.<\/i><\/span><\/span>\"<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Once in front, King was able to show the true pace of the #14 car, <\/span><\/span>stretch<\/span><\/span>ing its<\/span><\/span> legs and <\/span><\/span>opening out<\/span><\/span> a 22sec<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> lead, <\/span><\/span>posting the fastest LMP3 laps<\/span><\/span> before <\/span><\/span>eventually having to pit for the first of the team's driver changes. The stop did not go smoothly, however, as, having <\/span><\/span>refuelled, the <\/span><\/span>Virage <\/span><\/span>car <\/span><\/span>refused to fire up again and <\/span><\/span>had to be pushed back <\/span><\/span>in<\/span><\/span>to the garage, <\/span><\/span>where it remained<\/span><\/span> for 30mins <\/span><\/span>while <\/span><\/span>the team <\/span><\/span>attempted to diagnose and <\/span><\/span>fix the issue. <\/span><\/span>Perhaps unsurprisingly, the track surface proved to be the cause, with the bumps shaking apart the connection between battery and alternator, leaving the former without charge.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/i><\/span><\/span> team d<\/i><\/span><\/span>id an<\/i><\/span><\/span> amazing <\/i><\/span><\/span>job<\/i><\/span><\/span> to get the car back out and <\/i><\/span><\/span>enable <\/i><\/span><\/span>Bernardo and Mihnea to climb back up to P4 in class,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\"<\/i><\/span><\/span> King acknowledged, <\/span><\/span>\"It's n<\/i><\/span><\/span>ot the result we wanted, <\/i><\/span><\/span>especially as<\/i><\/span><\/span> the team calculated <\/i><\/span><\/span>that, without <\/i><\/span><\/span>the <\/i><\/span><\/span>problem,<\/i><\/span><\/span> we had the pace to win outright. <\/i><\/span><\/span>Although we scored valuable points for the championship, and can take a positive from knowing the pace we had, it still<\/i><\/span><\/span> sucks <\/i><\/span><\/span>to be<\/i><\/span><\/span> going home without the result we deserve<\/i><\/span><\/span>d. Despite that, I was s<\/i><\/span><\/span>uper happy with the job I d<\/i><\/span><\/span>id and, knowing that<\/i><\/span><\/span> everything else was out of <\/i><\/span><\/span>our<\/i><\/span><\/span> control, <\/i><\/span><\/span>I<\/i><\/span><\/span> can\u2019t be too upset <\/i><\/span><\/span>with the outcome<\/i><\/span><\/span>!<\/i><\/span><\/span>\"<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With the Imola LES round cancelled, <\/span><\/span>King's next outing is <\/span><\/span>race three<\/span><\/span> of the <\/span><\/span>Ultimate Cup<\/span><\/span> Series, at <\/span><\/span>Hockenheim<\/span><\/span> in <\/span><\/span>Germany,<\/span><\/span> over the weekend of<\/span><\/span> 26-28<\/span><\/span> May<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George King was denied a second successive Ultimate Cup Series win despite setting the LMP3 class pace in round two of the championship at Navarra in northern Spain. King and Team Virage co-drivers Mihnea Stefan and Bernardo Pinheiro defied the fact that they had but one UCS start between them to challenge for victory until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[28,6,26,31,33,14,29,30],"class_list":["post-268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-race-report","tag-28","tag-george-king","tag-ligier","tag-lmp3","tag-navarra","tag-team-jwr","tag-team-virage","tag-ultimate-cup-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268\/revisions\/275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gkracing.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}