Harvey wins Carrera Cup rounds nine and ten at Croft
Tim Harvey completed
a marvelous day at Croft today (Sunday 20 June) in
the Porsche Carrera Cup GB when he made it nine wins from ten races and
built his championship lead to 39 points. In a race full of fierce
battling, Ollie Jackson won pro-am1 and Glenn McMenamin won pro-am2.In front of a packed Croft crowd and live on ITV4, Harvey (Red Line Racing) once again made the start the decisive moment of the race as he out-dragged polesitter Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing) on the rush to the first corner. However, Harvey was not able to pull away as Hankey mounted a dogged pursuit as he fended off Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) and Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing).
In the early laps, there was little to chose between the leading trio, but as Caine launched his challenge on Hankey, Harvey got his chance to edge clear. Finally, on lap 12 Caine dived inside Hankey at Hawthorns and as they both oversteered through the corner, Caine came out ahead. However, their battle had made life easier for Harvey, who was nearly four seconds clear at the flag. "That was a bit harder and Euan was close at the start," said Harvey. "But I looked after my tyres at the start and I couldn't fault the car."
Caine clinched second, but was frustrated to see Harvey extend his championship lead. "Qualifying cost us," admitted Caine. "We had pretty much the same pace as Tim in the race." Hankey completed the podium, but team mate Jelley was right behind to complete a good weekend.
Jackson had to race very hard to claim both fifth overall and first in pro-am1, running many laps in a mighty contest with Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing), Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) and Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance). However, at the hairpin on lap 10 Meadows pushed Bateman wide onto the grass and Meadows dropped to the tail of the field. Meanwhile, Tom Bradshaw (JHR) dived ahead of them both in a fantastic drive from the very back of the grid to seventh at the finish.
Once Gelzinis got clear of the battle he was able to close the gap to Jackson, and only half a second split them at the finish. "Jonas had a lot more pace than me at the finish," said Jackson after a hard-earned victory. Third in pro-am1 went to Tony Gilham (Collins ReDesign Racing) who battled against budget restrictions to claim another podium finish and take the 'driver of the weekend' award, as the Collins ReDesign Racing squad earned the 'team of the weekend' award.
Pro-am2 was just as hard fought and it was McMenamin (Red Line Racing) who tigered through to victory after a well-judged performance. However, early on it was Paul Mace (GT Marques) and George Brewster (Celtic Speed) battling for the lead until a tangle at the Hairpin pitched Mace into retirement and dropped Brewster down the order. McMenamin managed to steer around the drama to take the lead and stayed ahead as Mark Hazell (JHR) drove a fine race to take second from George Richardson (Motorbase Performance), who just pipped the recovering Brewster at the flag. "You've just got to bide your time," said McMenamin of a cracking performance.
Race one
Tim Harvey became
the most successful driver in the history of the
Porsche Carrera Cup GB when he scored his eighth win of the season and
his 32nd career win at Croft today (Sunday 20 June) in round nine of
the championship.While Harvey (Red Line Racing) led from the start to take a resounding victory, Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) took a hard fought pro-am1 victory and George Brewster (Celtic Speed) emerged to win pro-am2 for the first time this season.
"It was all done at the start," said Harvey. "It's always crucial here as the first corner is so tight." While Harvey went immediately clear, second on the grid Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing) was squeezed wide at Clervaux and dropped to fourth as his team mate Stephen Jelley and Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) dived ahead. That set the tone for the race as Caine shadowed Jelley for lap after lap, but was never able to make a move on the former BTCC racer.
"The track was so dirty off line," said Caine of his problem in trying to pass Jelley. "If you went off line it took four corners to clean the tyres up." Ahead, Harvey was able to control the race and take a nicely measured victory.
"Stephen was under pressure all race from Michael and I was just concentrating on tyre management," said Harvey. Jelley, meanwhile, had his best Carrera Cup finish so far with second place. "We're getting closer," said Jelley. "As long as I drove the slow stuff well I was going to be okay, but it was a tough race," said Jelley.
Close to Jelley and Caine at the finish in fourth was Hankey. Fifth place was the subject of a mighty battle as well as the contest for pro-am1 victory. Initially, Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) fended off Gelzinis, Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) and Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance), but then Gelzinis got briefly ahead of Geddie. The places soon changed back again and it was not until lap 11 that Gelzinis made his move on Geddie permanent. While the Lithuanian racer moved clear, Jackson set about finding a way around Geddie in order to chase after his pro-am1 rival. Into Tower with three laps to go, Jackson dived ahead and was able to close the gap to Gelzinis to three quarters of a second at the flag, while Bateman pushed Geddie back to eighth on the last lap.
"It was a big fight with Geddie," said Gelzinis. "But I didn't push too hard at the beginning and was able to save my tyres for the end of the race." Jackson was almost close enough to challenge after a strong drive. "It was a really good race and I think we had the pace," said Jackson.
In pro-am2, there was heartbreak for George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) when a superb drive took him into a clear category lead and 11th overall. Cruelly, a water pump issue ended his race at half-distance. "I made the best start I've ever had and just kept my nose clean. It was in the bag," said the disappointed Cheshire teenager after his best Carrera Cup race so far.
Instead, victory went to George Brewster (Celtic Speed) after a gritty performance. He had to battle ahead of pro-am1 racer Liam Griffin (Addison Lee Motorbase) and then survived a brush with Alex Martin (GT Marques) at the Hairpin on his way to victory. "It was very hard work," said Brewster, who won at Croft in 2009. "I had a scare when Alex broadsided me and I had a couple of scares on the dropped coolant," he said.
Paul Mace (GT Marques) battled long and hard behind Griffin on his way to second in pro-am2 while Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) completed the pro-am2 podium, despite a high-speed scare at the Jim Clark Esses when a trip through the gravel at Clervaux took the front splitter off the car. At the start of the race, McMenamin dropped to the tail of the field when Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing) stalled on the grid just ahead of him with a clutch problem.
