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 Navarra's notorious bumps undid the Briton's early efforts and left the team just short of the podium following a second half fightback.
Despite having spent the two pre-event test days evaluating set-up changes in a bid to find a sweet spot for the 'bumpiest track I’ve ever driven on', King and the #14 Ligier JS P320 were not immune to mechanical problems 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.
"No-one escaped problems in testing, including ourselves, but Team Virage were quick to replace anything that was looking worn out before it became a bigger problem," King noted. "It was still a shame that we couldn't quite nail down the set-up ahead of qualifying, however, because this series is so competitive."
Once again, as he had in round one at Paul Ricard, King stepped up to take the opening stint of the four-hour race and, despite having to cope with the extraordinarily early 8:30am start, made a good getaway, moving up a position before spending the next couple of laps both attacking and defending as he tried to get through as much traffic as possible without being held up, before getting into clear air. When the first safety car interruption occurred after only three laps, Virage opted to pit the #14 and top up its fuel load, putting the young trio on an unconventional strategy that it hoped would pay off in the long run.
Although he had to make a rapid exit from the pits in order to catch the safety car before it unleashed the field, King gradually made his way back up the order, reaching P3 before another safety car intervention was called. A shorter hiatus then allowed the Briton to mount an attack on the cars ahead, although catching and passing proved to be different propositions.
"The Nova class cars are tricky to get past as they’re around 200kg lighter than an LMP3 and their acceleration makes it hard to set them up a corner before," King explained. "Late braking eventually got me through into P2 and hunting down the overall leader, which was a rival in LMP3. I spent several laps trying to force a mistake as it’s so difficult to overtake around Navarra, before faking a dive into the braking zone at Turn 9. When the leader locked their front wheels, I snuck up the inside, finally getting past into T11."
Once in front, King was able to show the true pace of the #14 car, stretching its legs and opening out a 22secs lead, posting the fastest LMP3 laps before eventually having to pit for the first of the team's driver changes. The stop did not go smoothly, however, as, having refuelled, the Virage car refused to fire up again and had to be pushed back into the garage, where it remained for 30mins while the team attempted to diagnose and fix the issue. 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.
"The team did an amazing job to get the car back out and enable Bernardo and Mihnea to climb back up to P4 in class," King acknowledged, "It's not the result we wanted, especially as the team calculated that, without the problem, we had the pace to win outright. Although we scored valuable points for the championship, and can take a positive from knowing the pace we had, it still sucks to be going home without the result we deserved. Despite that, I was super happy with the job I did and, knowing that everything else was out of our control, I can’t be too upset with the outcome!"
With the Imola LES round cancelled, King's next outing is race three of the Ultimate Cup Series, at Hockenheim in Germany, over the weekend of 26-28 May.
