Harvey does the Carrera Cup double at Oulton Park
Tim Harvey completed
a
double Porsche Carrera Cup GB victory at Oulton Park today (Sunday 6
June) when he won a shortened round eight of the championship. Jonas
Gelzinis (Juta Racing) completed a superb pro-am1 double, while Paul
Mace (GT Marques) took the pro-am2 victory.Harvey (Red Line Racing) was ahead, but under constant pressure from Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance), when the race was halted at 12 laps following an accident involving Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase) and Alex Martin (GT Marques). With the circuit curfew time fast approaching, there was no time to restart the race.
Harvey got the jump off the line, but there was drama as the 27-car field headed for the first corner. Contact between the Team Parker Racing cars of Euan Hankey and Glynn Geddie sent Hankey's car spinning across the track and into the barriers on the left of the circuit. The other Team Parker Racing driver of Stephen Jelley had a miraculous escape as Hankey spun across in front of him. "I was just hard on the brakes; he came right across my nose," said Jelley.
That incident allowed Harvey and Caine to establish a small but important margin over the chasing pack. As ever, their cars were supremely evenly matched and they ran nose-to-tail for lap after lap as Caine looked for a way to dislodge his title rival. But any plans that Caine had for a late race bid were thwarted by the red flag with six laps to run. Harvey duly claimed his seventh win from eight races. "I can't afford to be complacent, but I'm very, very pleased to come away with two wins," said Harvey. "I did think I could have a go at Tim and I'd sized up a couple of places," said Caine. "The early finish is not what we wanted."
Jelley recovered from his first corner scare to run a strong third, while Gelzinis was a mighty fourth overall to complete a double victory in pro-am1 after a superb debut weekend at Oulton Park. "I changed my driving style in some of the corners and it helped a lot," said Gelzinis. "It's been a very good weekend for us."
Joining Gelzinis on the pro-am1 podium were Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing) and Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase). "It was a very tough race," said Al Harthy, who had Jackson as a constant challenge. "It's very good to be back on the podium and we gave it all we had," said Al Harthy after another very encouraging race. Into fourth, to back up his earlier podium, went Archie Hamilton (Red Line Racing) who was declared 'driver of the weekend'. Meanwhile, Red Line Racing earned the 'team of the weekend' award.
Initially, John Gaw (Kinfaun Racing) made the pro-am2 running as he battled for tenth overall with Tom Bradshaw (JHR). But into Lodge on lap eight Gaw attacked on the inside and slid into Bradshaw as he locked up. Both cars spun and Gaw dropped down the pro-am2 order. Into the pro-am2 lead contest then went Paul Mace (GT Marques) and Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase) and they battled hard until Parish had a moment and dropped back before spinning at Cascades. The unsighted Martin had nowhere to go, and with two damaged cars on the track the race was halted.
That confirmed Mace as pro-am2 winner as he bounced back from major brake problems in the first race. "I was struggling for grip," said Mace as he raced on tyres that had already done a race at Brands Hatch. "It was very tough, but we sorted the brake problem from the first race." Close behind Mace at the finish was Mark Hazell (JHR) after a very good race. "We altered the car for the second race and made it better," he said as Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) recovered from a poor start to complete the pro-am2 podium ahead of George Brewster (Celtic Speed).
