The Richardson Racing team secured a fifth podium finish of the season at Knockhill to maintain its front-running form in the 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup GB season.
The Corby-based team headed for Scotland on the back of a double podium finish at Oulton Park two weeks earlier, with Will Martin having scored a pair of top three finishes to maintain his championship challenge.
Saturday would be a late start for the team with qualifying only taking place in the middle of the afternoon, but the session would be worth the wait as a storming lap from Martin saw him secure pole position in the series for the first time as he edged Lorcan Hanafin at the head of the times.
Series rookie Josh Malin would set a best time just half a second away from pole and lined up in seventh spot for race one, with the experienced figure of Will Bratt directly behind him in ninth in his Comline-backed machine.
Chasing a second win of the year from pole, Martin lost out to Lorcan Hanafin off the line and then dropped to third when a forceful move from Harry King at Clark saw him move ahead into second. Contact on the way through would damage a steering arm on Martin's car and left him battling to keep the car on track, leaving him to wrestle his way to the finish in fifth place on the road.
Unfortunate time penalties for exceeding track limits - not helped by the ill-handling nature of the car - would then demote him down to ninth place.
Malin was one of the drivers who would ultimately benefit from Martin's penalty having run in seventh place throughout, with his end result of sixth being rewarded with reverse grid pole for race two. Bratt meanwhile would end the race in tenth spot, having fought back from losing places at the start.
From pole position, Malin held the lead at the start of race two and was keeping Kiern Jewiss at bay before a lengthy safety car period to recover a stricken car from the circuit.
After the restart, Malin would lose the lead to defending champion King before a further caution period and was then forced to push hard to keep Lewis Plato and former champion Dan Cammish at bay during the closing laps. However, a mature drive would be rewarded with second place, and first podium finish in the series.
Josh will be out in action next at Croft in September.
Josh Malin, #90 Richardson Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, said:
"In race one, I didn't quite get the result I was looking for on track, but the penalty for Will meant I finished up in sixth place and that got me pole with the reverse grid, so I had luck on my side a bit to get pole for race two.
"It was a nail-biting race to be involved in and I had to defend like hell most of the time to keep some really quick drivers behind me. King managed to slip through but I am so happy with P2 and I hope that this is the start of something.
"I'm so proud to have scored this result and I feel I can hold my head up high to have been able to take the fight to drivers like King and Cammish, which is no mean feat when you consider their pace and the success they have enjoyed. Massive thanks to the team and to all my sponsors as I wouldn't have done this without them."
