Porsche Carrera Cup GB 2010 Race 7 & 8 Oulton Park

Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain 2010 - Race 7 & 8 Oulton Park

Caine and Harvey share Carrera Cup poles at Oulton Park

Michael Caine and Tim Harvey each took a pole position in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Oulton Park today (Saturday 5 June) ahead of rounds seven and eight of the championship. Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) headed pro-am1 for both races, while John Gaw (Kinfaun Racing) topped the pro-am2 times.

The leading drivers were more closely matched than ever as three-tenths of a second covered the top five times on the grid for round seven. In fact, such is the competitiveness of the Carrera Cup GB that only five seconds covered the entire 27-car field.


Caine (Motorbase Performance) got the fastest lap of the session to take pole for round seven in 1m23.475s, but Harvey (Red Line Racing) had the faster second best lap, so he took pole for round eight. "We wanted both poles but we only got one of them," said Caine. "So it's one-all. I was a bit frustrated by the red flag coming out late in the session." However, Caine was also aware that a gaggle of contenders will line up to challenge the two established pacesetters. "They're all getting there," he said as Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) and Carrera Cup Scholarship racer Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing) and Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing) all lapped very close to the pole time.

For the weekend's second race Harvey will start on pole position. "Our pace is consistent and the car is good on old tyres," said the championship leader. Hankey came close to edging Caine back to third for race two, but Caine jumped up to second fastest on his final lap of the session, which had been re-started for a final 5-minute charge after a red flag. That pushed Hankey back to third from Jelley and Geddie in the line up for round eight.

Sixth overall and top of pro-am1 for both races was a fine result for Gelzinis, who had learnt the Oulton Park circuit during testing on Friday. "There was a lot of traffic and I couldn't get a complete clear lap," said Gelzinis. "But I'm getting used to the circuit and I really like it."


However, Gelzinis faces tough opposition in pro-am1 as Archie Hamilton and Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing) ran him very close on times. "It was so close; just a tenth off," said Hamilton. However, like his team mate Harvey, Hamilton is confident that his car will be strong in race trim. Down in fourth in pro-am1 for both races is category leader Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase), who felt that he had been over-driving during qualifying.

Gaw set the pro-am2 pace, despite being the cause of the late session red flag when he clipped the tyres marking the corner apex at Knickerbrook. "It's Michael Caine's fault; he told me to take the corner in second gear," joked Gaw.

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.

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.