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Round Six, Rockingham, June 9th/10th 2001 - Barbara Armstrong, driving the #8 Parr Motorsport GT3 Cup Porsche, finished fifth in last weekend’s Michelin Porsche Cup Sprint race.

Third place finishes in both her first two Sprint events (at Silverstone and Snetterton) have given her a taste for this kind of racing, although seventh in qualifying meant she had quite a lot to do this time.

Barbara made a good standing start from the grid and was up with the leading pack as they headed out around the oval for the opening lap. Adrian Slater, starting on the second row, must have misunderstood the driver’s briefing, because he braked hard as if preparing to take the chicane. Everyone behind bunched up, allowing Rice and Chambers to ease away at the front but setting up Armstrong perfectly for her next move.

Approaching the first hairpin and the entry to the infield Armstrong tucked up the inside from a wide sweep off the banking. "It was a hooligan move," she admitted later, "but it worked!" Although she took to the dirt, kicking up dust, she emerged in fourth place without touching anyone. This was all the more remarkable because she was faced as she did so by a spinning Craig Rapp - heading in the opposite direction!

Adrian Slater recovered well from the shock of having Barbara flying by at the hairpin and was harrying her for much of the rest of the lap. Two thirds of the way round, and in the last turn before the final hairpin, he dived back through.

For two laps Armstrong hung on tightly to Slater’s tail, but the gap gradually increased. With a race order firmly established, Armstrong settled down into a steady rhythm that saw her run a relatively lonely race, although the gap to Slater narrowed significantly towards the end.

Armstrong crossed the line fifth and declared herself "happy" with the result. It certainly places her in a good position for the Feature race, although Barbara still feels there are areas where she can improve. "I’m a bit of a woos when it comes to the chicane," she admits.

Paul Robe, team manager at Parr, was very pleased. "This is indicative of the way Barbara is improving race by race, especially in the dry. Not only did she finish fifth today, but she was fifth fastest on the track. At the start of the season we were three seconds adrift in these kind of conditions, now it’s just a second or so. She’s still a rally driver at heart, but we’ll make a racing driver out of her yet!"

Rockingham Photos HERE