Newport racer Harry Rowlings sets the pace as he races to first victory

Rowlings, riding for Nova Racing Team, tasted victory in the GP2 class in the latest round of action, which took place at Brands Hatch.

A superb weekend saw Rowlings triumph in Saturday’s sprint race and then claim a second-placed finish in Sunday’s feature race.

Rowlings had enjoyed two positive sessions in Friday’s free practice, clocking the third fastest time of 1:32.207secs in his first ride before improving that by a staggering 1.602s on his second outing.

Saturday’s qualifying saw him post a time of 1:30.140s to secure fourth place on the grid for the 12-lap opener.

The race took place in wet conditions and Rowlings was pushed wide by the other riders as they exited turn one for the first time.

By the end of lap one Rowlings found himself in fourth position but then, as he became familiar with the tricky conditions, he began to catch the riders ahead of him.

On lap three he had moved up to third position and continued his progress by claiming second spot by the midway point.

With three laps remaining, Rowlings caught and passed leader Joe Collier and then pulled away to win comfortably and claim his first British GP2 race win ahead of Collier and Cameron Fraser, in third.

Sunday’s race saw Rowlings make a strong start and take an early lead. But by lap nine he had been passed by both Collier and Fraser but there was late drama for race leader Collier when he was forced to retire from the race on lap 12, which left Rowlings crossing the finish line in second place.

After a strong weekend, Rowlings has moved up to second in the GP2 Championship, just 40 points behind leader Fraser.

Rowling’s fellow Newport speedster, Tom Booth-Amos, was also in action at Brands, in the Supersport class.

Friday’s first practice session saw the Gearlink Kawasaki rider clock the third fastest time (1:29:289s), which he improved by by 0.998s in his second run.

In Saturday’s qualifying, a final lap time of 1:28:169s saw Booth-Amos secure third place on the grid, just 0.376s behind his championship rival Luke Stapleford.

But the Newport rider was hit by misfortune in the 12-lap sprint. After gaining the lead on lap two, he suffered a mechanical problem and was forced to retire.

Booth-Amos was determined to get back on track in Sunday’s feature race but he was made to work hard after slipping down to 22nd place at the end of the opening lap.

Throughout the remaining laps, Booth-Amos was able to lap faster than the riders ahead of him and started working his way through the field.

By the start of the final lap he had third-placed Richard Cooper in his sights and then powered past him to claim a place on the podium.

The third-placed finish leaves Booth-Amos third in the championship standings, 16 points behind leader Stapleford.

The next Championship round is at Thruxton on August 12 and 13.