Harvey wins Carrera Cup round seven at Oulton Park
Tim Harvey was the
big
winner in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Oulton Park today (Sunday 6
June) in round seven of the championship. With title rival Michael
Caine off at the first corner, Harvey's victory became even more
significant. Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) drove a gritty race to win
pro-am1, while Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) won pro-am2.The major drama came as the 27-car field stormed into the first corner. Both Caine (Motorbase Performance) and Harvey (Red Line Racing) made relatively slow starts and contact with Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) pitched Caine's car into a spin and it then went backwards into the tyre wall. "I got a big hit from behind," said Caine as his Oulton Park gremlins struck again. "The car just wouldn't restart, otherwise I'd have carried on."
Harvey survived contact with Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing) at the first corner, and emerged from Old Hall in the lead. "I got my head down for the first four laps to take advantage of the new tyres and to try and get fastest lap," said Harvey. "I didn't realise until about lap five that it was Michael off at Old Hall." Later, Harvey was penalised three championship points and Geddie was penalised six championship points over the contact incidents.
With Harvey pulling clear, Hankey slotted into second from Geddie and Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing). While Hankey could never relax in second, Jelley mounted a lengthy challenge on Geddie and finally dived ahead when Geddie ran wide at Old Hall. "I got a run on him and got up the inside at Cascades, but it was very tight," said Jelley. A mistake by Hankey later in the race allowed Jelley to close to within half a second of his team mate as Geddie took fourth. Through to fifth with a fighting drive came Charles Bateman (Motorbase Performance), who was chased home by Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing).
The contest for pro-am1 ran all the way to the flag, even though Gelzinis led throughout. However, his car's handling deteriorated over the closing stages thanks to a damaged front splitter. Leading the chase of Gelzinis was Archie Hamilton (Red Line Racing) and the winning margin was little more than a second after 25 minutes of racing. "The handling was a problem and I was losing time towards the end of the race," said Gelzinis. "I was catching him and I had Ollie Jackson closing in on me as well," said Hamilton. "I just didn't have quite enough at the end," he added. Jackson took the final podium position in pro-am1 from Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing), who wrapped up the overall top 10 places.
In pro-am2, McMenamin leapt into the lead at the start with a very rapid getaway. "I made a demon start," he said. But he soon had pro-am2 polesitter John Gaw (Kinfaun Racing) on his tail and knowing that Gaw was not going to score championship points McMenamin did not defend too much when Gaw attacked. They then ran in close formation for many laps before Gaw slid off the road at Cascades. "I don't know what happened," he said. "The steering had been out of true from the start and it felt like something broke."
That left McMenamin with a strong lead, which he calmly converted into a clear category victory. "It doesn't get any better than that," he said after finishing seven seconds clear of George Brewster (Celtic Speed) as Mark Hazell (JHR) completed the pro-am2 podium. "That's about as good as we could have expected," said Brewster after a strong race.
New 911GT3 Cup car unveiled for Porsche Carrera Cup GB
The 911GT3 Cup car
that will be raced in the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB was unveiled to
teams and drivers at Oulton Park yesterday (Friday 4 June).The stunning new car, already in use in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and several Carrera Cups around the world, will be introduced into the Carrera Cup GB car for 2011. Up to 28 new cars will be produced for the 2011 Carrera Cup GB and the first deposits were taken within minutes of the car being unveiled.
"This car is more of a step change than an evolution," said Geoff Turral, general manager Porsche Cars GB, when unveiling the latest car. An increase in engine size from 3600cc to 3800cc has boosted power output to 450bhp, while a wider bodyshell is drawn from the GT3RS. Notable among a raft of detail changes is the rear wing, which is both wider and higher to increase down force. "The new car is quite technically different to the existing car," said Turral.
Reigning Carrera Cup GB champion and current Supercup racer Tim Bridgman spoke about the driving experience in the new car. "You can feel the extra power straightaway and it's a move advanced racing car. The adjustments do more to the car and it is incredibly sensitive; it gives more scope to the drivers and engineers."
The car will next be on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (2-4 July) and will then be one of the cars to be raced by Carrera Cup GB Scholars Euan Hankey and Michael Meadows in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race at Silverstone on 11 July.
"We may have more demand than we can supply," said Turral. "We are keen to create a strong market for the current cars so that our existing teams and drivers can step up to the new car." Turral also reported strong interest from new teams looking to join the Carrera Cup GB grid for 2011.
The new Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, run by the Porsche Club GB, is expected to absorb a number of the current cars, while the creation of new GT3 Cup Challenges in several European markets for 2011 will further increase demand for the current cars.
