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Oulton Park – Practice makes Perfect

Charles Rainford continued his impressive pace in the wet from Brands Hatch at Oulton Park’s Wednesday testing. In the morning session Charles not only led the Pro Am class but topped the overall session some 2.5 seconds clear of the next Pro Am car. In the dry afternoon session the team continued to work on the setup finishing the session 4th in class for Fridays practice. On a sunny Friday morning Charles continued his fine form topping the Pro Am field and finished the session 8th overall on old tyres. Later in the day, after some small setup tweaks, the hot pace continued with an overall P6, 5 positions in front of the next Pro Am driver. Saturday continued to go to plan with Charles picking up a career high of 4th in qualifying with Aspin and Ratcliffe the next Pro Am drivers back in 12th and 13th. Later in the day Charles managed to hold onto 4th in the opening of Race 1 before a red flag interrupted proceedings after 5 laps. On the restart Charles managed to gain 2 positions to 2nd overall and defended well from Jewiss and Smalley behind. Unfortunately, 3 laps from the end Rainford let the two Pros through, crossing the line 4th with fastest lap, a pro am win and in the draw for reverse grid pole position. Charles lined up on the front row for Race 2 alongside Graham. A good start saw him hold position on the opening lap which he defended fantastically for all 15 laps bringing home all Pro Am points available on the weekend and his first overall podium position. There’s now a long break to go before Knockhill in July where we’ll look to continue this momentum
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Brands Hatch Indy – Wet and wild success

After a disappointing weekend in Donington we have moved onto Brands Hatch Indy, our home track where we’ve had plenty of success in the past. During practice and qualifying the weather stayed dry and hot and Charles was setting good pace in both Friday practice sessions providing positive feedback for the team. During qualifying on Saturday, Charles was setting some very quick times around a track he knows very well. Hugo Ellis sert the Pro Am pace with a 45.261 which put him firmly within the Pro drivers. Charles, on a relatively clear track but with, set a 45.459 putting him second in class. Race day came and the weather was about to change up the whole wekend. Overnight rain cleared all the rubber on the newly layed tarmac. Race 1 started off as a dry race with Charles losing a couple of places off the line but staying firmly on the tail of the Pro and Pro Am drivers in front. However, the rain started to fall and, after a moment on the grass for Charles, the race was red flagged on lap 26 for a change to wets. This was a blessing in disguise for us as Charles took advantage of the safety car restart to make up the places he had lost. With the podium in sight, he traded places with Ratcliffe for several laps and made the overtook stick with a superb move around the outside of Paddock Hill bend on the final lap to take P2 in class. Race 2 was a definite wet race having rained all day. Charles started in P10 overall and P2 in class. It was a great fight with Ratcliffe for the majority of the race, which was for P2 at the time. Charles loves the wet conditions and eventually made a great move on Ratcliffe before pulling out a gap. Next up was Aspin for P1 who was passed on lap 18. Charles didn’t stop the charge there and continued to pull out a gap over the rest of the Pro Am field. Lap 23 added a safety car to the drama cutting our lead from 6 seconds to nothing. Charles showed his skill on the restart overtaking a Pro driver to bring home P7 overall and the Pro Am win with fastest lap as well. We move to Oulton Park for Rounds 5 and 6 on June 11-12
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Donington Park – First races in the Porsche 992

The dust has settled on the first two rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB 2022 at Donington Park Circuit. This was our first chance to see how our pace stacked up against the rest of the field in the new Porsche 992 machinery. Practice in the week had left us feeling confident and ready as we made great progress with the new car for Saturday’s qualifying session. Qualifying saw Charles Rainford (Pro Am) setting the early pace trading fastest laps with Aspin and Ratcliffe. However, unable to get a clear lap in the second half of the session, Rainford qualified 5th in Pro Am splitting some of the Pro drivers. In Sundays first race Charles showed great racecraft battling with a mix of Pro and Pro Am drivers to finish on the Pro Am podium. Unfortunately following a technical penalty this was not kept and we were to start race 2 from the back of the grid with a 10 second hold. Race 2 started with Rainford navigating through the AM field for the first 10 laps then having considerable pace matching the Pro AM leaders to finish P7 just 3 tenths off the next Pro Am driver.
Charles Rainford CCK Motorsport Porsche Carrera Cup
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Brands Hatch GP: Double Pro-Am winners!

Charles Rainford – double Pro-Am winner at final round of Porsche Carrera Cup GB 2021.

Ending the season on a high with two wins in the Pro-Am category at Brands Hatch. We started the weekend with good pace and it just kept getting better from there. We dialled in the setup in FP1 and FP2 and went out in qualifying with confidence. Charles second tyre run in qualifying was timed almost to perfection. In the final minutes Charles jumped the Pro-Am pack to take provisional pole by a whole 3 tenths of a second only to loose out to Nathan Harrison by a single tenth.

Starting from Pro-Am P2, Charles fought hard and fair with Harrison, making the pass on the first lap and staying in front to take his first win of the day. For race 2 Charles lined up 7th on the grid in Pro-Am P1, just ahead of Pro-Am champion Ryan Ratcliffe. He raced hard with Ratcliffe, keeping him at bay for the entirety of the race. With two wins this weekend, Charles win total is now up to 5, the most of any driver in the Pro or Pro-Am categories this season!

Charles Rainford King Dick Tools Porsche Carrera Cup
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Donington Park – Rounds 13 & 14 of Porsche Carrera Cup GB

Donington Park – the penultimate race weekend of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB 2021 season. A couple of red flags in FP2 put us on the back foot for qualifying. Despite qualifying 7th in Pro-Am and 15th on the grid, Charles managed to fight his way forward to take is 6th podium of the year. Race 2 didn’t quite go to plan, another car tapped the bumper and sent him of the circuit, loosing a handful of places. Even with the difficulties we still come home with a trophy.

Porsche Carrera Cup Silverstone Charles Rainford CCK Motorsport
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Silverstone – Charles Rainford bringing home the silverware

It’s always tough having back to back race weekends but it all becomes worthwhile when you have a haul of trophies to bring home. We tested at Silverstone on Wednesday ahead of the official TOCA weekend. Charles had great pace from the start lapping with consistency and going quicker with each session. The good pace continued in Friday free practice but in qualifying on Saturday the balance wasn’t quite there. Charles qualified 4th in Pro-Am but his pace returned from the start of race 1. He secured 3rd position and his first podium of the weekend. For race 2 Charles started from 3rd in Pro-Am and battled his way into the lead. During the closing laps he defending against a very quick Pepe Massot to retain his lead and claim victory. This is Charles third win and fifth podium of the season so far.
Charles Rainford Porsche Carrera Cup Croft
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Croft – Highs and Lows for Charles Rainford

Croft was our first race weekend since coming home from Le Mans. We came to Croft on the high of a Le Mans win. Free practice went well and Charles showed good pace despite it being his first time at the circuit. Qualifying was going our way right until the end. Charles held a 1/2 second lead in the Pro-A class right until the last lap. We started race 1 from Pro-Am 3rd and finished in the same position to claim our 3rd podium of the season. For race 2 we again started 3rd but our pace was the best it had been all weekend. Charles was putting the pressure on the cars in front when another car clipped the tyres at the chicane and sent them into Charles path. There was no way to avoid the collision. Sadly, this was the end of our race. We spent much of Sunday night repairing the car in time for a Wednesday test at Silverstone.
Charles Rainford wins at Le Mans Porsche Sprint Challenge France
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Le Mans support race win for Charles Rainford – Porsche Sprint Challenge!

We won at Le Mans!!! We came to Le Mans for the Porsche Sprint Challenge support race ahead of the 89th 24 hour. It was our first time here as a team and for Charles as a driver. Charles adapted to the circuit quickly and proved to be a natural on the 13km course topping the 991 Cup car class in all four sessions. In free practice 1, with a lap time of 4 minutes 10 seconds, Charles finished P2 overall! In free practice 2 he knocked 2 seconds off his best lap time and finished P5 overall. Porsche provided coaching with 2-time Le Mans winner and ex-Porsche driver Sacha Massen. Charles was able to spend some time with Sascha and compare data from his car. Sascha recognised Charles abilities and challenged him to put in a 4:06 lap time. In Fridays qualifying session Charles did just that. With a lap time of 4:06.8 he qualified 6th overall and took the 991 class pole position. The race was drama free, Charles maintained his position winning the 991 class and crossing the line 6th overall. We are so proud of Charles and the team. Thank you Porsche and thank you Le Mans for treating us so well.
Charles Rainford Porsche Carrera Cup win Knockhill
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Knockhill – Charles Rainford secures second Porsche Carrera Cup Victory

Knockhill is a true drivers circuit and it very much suits Charles driving style. Testing on Wednesday saw some good lap times which improved each time he hit the track. In Saturday’s qualifying it all came together and he qualified on the Pro-Am pole with a lap time of 49.222. An incredible achievement having never raced here before. Sunday continued in the same vain. Charles kept his position whilst building a gap to the next Pro-Am challengers behind. It was a comfortable Pro-Am win and his second of the season so far. Race 2 started really well, from 7th on the grid, Charles stuck with the leading pack of Pro drivers until a safety car was called out. Upon the restart however, Charles suffered a failure of the left driveshaft assembly. We believe it was caused when another car made contact with the left rear wheel earlier in the race. Despite the DNF we come away from Scotland very happy. Charles talents are growing with each round and we know we have what it takes to win races.
Charles Rainford CCK Motorsport Porsche Carrera Cup Oulton Park Daniel Lackey
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Oulton Park – Porsche Carrera Cup GB Rounds 5 & 6

Oulton Park was not the weekend we’d hoped for but there is still a lot of positives we can take away. The first sessions were on wet tyres and Charles showed that his pace was great. A wrong strategy call in qualifying compromised our starting position which was further compounded by a penalty for Charles being out of grid position at the start. With good pace Charles was able to make great progress on track only to be dropped down the results by the time penalty. On Sunday the pace was better again but a puncture and a pit stop put us down a lap. It was a tough weekend but we learned a lot and it will make the next podium all the sweeter.
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