A 30-second penalty cost NGK-sponsored Charlie Martin victory in the latest round of the Praga category of the 2021 Britcar Endurance Championship at Silverstone.

Extreme weather conditions set the scene for the two-hour showpiece round of the championship with  Charlie and her Powerhouse Performance by Praga teammate Jack Fabby qualifying in sixth position. She took the start of the double-length race and made the most of the changeable weather conditions to climb to fourth, pushing hard through the rain on slick tyres whilst others pitted for wets.

After her strong opening stint, the team took the lead after the pit stop cycle and Fabby then held firm in a nail-biting finish to take the chequered flag before unfortunately the team received a 30-second post-race penalty for a pit stop infraction, dropping them to second place.

Charlie said, “It was a huge effort to make our way through the grid and an amazing feeling to finish first on the road - we gave it our all today and really enjoyed fighting it out at the front so it’s gutting we received the penalty. The big positive is our pace was really strong and that’s something we’ll aim to carry forward from here.”

Mark Hallam, Marketing Manager, NGK Spark Plugs said, “Charlie and Jack performed heroically at Silverstone and were so unfortunate to be denied victory by receiving the pit spot penalty. I’m sure Charlie’s fans can look forward to even more drama in the future races.”

The result means Charlie now occupies third in the championship standings with 151 points.