Westbrook does Carrera Cup double at Brands Hatch

Richard Westbrook dominated rounds 19 and 20 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch on Sunday, 2 October, to score his 12th and 13th race wins of the season. Meanwhile, strong drives by the new 2005 Porsche Carrera Cup Champion, Damien Faulkner, and his team-mate, Jason Templeman, ensured Team Parker Racing secured the Teams’ Championship.

Race one

While Westbrook stretched clear of the pack in the opening race, Jason Templeman took second, with Damien Faulkner on his tail, to strengthen his bid for third in the final championship standings.

"It was the perfect race at the perfect circuit," said an elated Westbrook (Ipswich) after a faultless performance. "I just want to end the season on a high," he confirmed.

The contest for second ran for virtually the whole race. Templeman (Nottingham) slotted in behind Westbrook off the grid, followed by Faulkner (Co Donegal) and Tim Harvey (Woodstock). With Harvey leading Templeman by just two points in the contest for third place in the championship, Templeman really needed his team-mate to stay ahead of Harvey.

"The aim was to stay in front of Tim and we did it reasonably well," said Templeman. Several times Harvey mounted challenges on Faulkner, but the 2005 champion always defended to keep Harvey in fourth. "I can afford to offer some help to Jason and I wasn’t going to gift Tim the position. The car was brilliant," said Faulkner.

As many as four cars ran in close company in a battle for fifth place, which eventually fell to series returnee David Pinkney (Harpenden). However, Pinkney had to battle ahead of Nigel Rice (Beverley) in order to claim fifth. Out of Surtees, Pinkney got alongside Rice, who ran along the grass as a result. That allowed Jason Young (Oakham, Leics) to edge Rice back to seventh. "Jason drove by just waving," said Rice. Once into fifth, Pinkney was too far adrift of the leading quartet to make any further progress. "I was just holding station," he said of the closing laps.

Up behind Rice in the second half of the race was Andy Britnell (Hildenborough, Kent). However, he attacked into Surtees for the final time and ran wide into a spin, which dropped him to tenth place behind Steve Clark (Stourbridge) and Phil Quaife (Tonbridge, Kent). Clark had pulled up well into contention with the pack ahead of him after qualifying only 12th.

Race 2

In a repeat of the earlier race, Westbrook, in his Porsche Centre East London-backed car, swept ahead at the start and dominated the race from the front. In his wake, the two SAS International-sponsored cars of Faulkner and Templeman took second and third places, enabling Team Parker Racing (based near Leicester) to clinch the teams’ championship.

Westbrook got the start he wanted to beat Templeman into Paddock Hill Bend and was quickly able to establish a lead. While Tim Harvey challenged the pair of Team Parker Racing cars, Westbrook pulled out a lead of over four seconds.

Harvey, in his distinctive black and white car backed by Porsche Centre Solihull and Data Pulse, was able to move ahead of Faulkner for third place out of Graham Hill Bend, but was caught out by coolant dropped a lap earlier at Surtees. "Jason got a bit sideways on the coolant and I couldn’t avoid him," explained Harvey. The contact with the back of Templeman’s car damaged a radiator on Harvey’s car and his race was over, along with any chance of taking third in the championship.

With Harvey out, Faulkner could race with his team-mate and when Templeman had a moment at Westfield on lap seven, Faulkner nipped ahead. However, though he closed the gap to Westbrook a little, the leader was never in any danger of being caught. "I wanted to end on a high and that’s what I’ve done!", said Richard afterwards.

Faulkner was equally pleased to help secure the team title for Team Parker Racing. "We’ve accomplished everything we set out to do," he confirmed. That also applied to Templeman, whose Country Field Village Homes and Oak Tree Homes-supported car secured third in the championship with third place in the final round; even though his engine was losing power over the closing laps after the contact from Harvey had damaged the exhaust.

Fourth place fell to Tim Bridgman (Dunmow, Essex) after a fine drive in the car entered by Porsche Cars GB in association with Team Autosport. Having started at the back of the grid after retiring from the opening race, he battled up the order and benefited from a couple of retirements to finish a strong fourth. "It’s been a brilliant weekend, and I’d like to thank Porsche Cars and Autosport magazine for giving me this opportunity."

Out on the opening lap after a tangle at Surtees went Rice and Pinkney and so it was Young who took an excellent fifth as Britnell, Stephen Shanly (Clapham) and Clark chased.