Sutton takes Porsche Carrera Cup double at Croft
James Sutton was the star of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Croft over the weekend (2/3 June), as he romped to a superb pair of victories. His first Carrera Cup wins put the 21-year old racer well into contention for the title contest with 12 races still to run. Meanwhile, Nigel Rice continued to dominate the pro-am category with two more wins. Round seven
Sutton drove a faultless race to win round seven on Saturday, while Steven Kane and Tim Harvey battled for second place. Sutton (Barnet) got an excellent start to convert pole position into the lead at the first corner. Harvey (Oxford) wanted to slot in behind his teammate into the corner from third on the grid, but was beaten to Clervaux by Kane (Brixworth, Northants). “I’ve made good starts all season and when I really needed it today, I didn’t do it,” said Harvey.
While Sutton got his head down and rattled off a series of fast laps to gradually extend his lead to more than a second, Kane was busy fending off the challenge of Harvey. For most of the race, there was very little between the two cars as Harvey looked for an opportunity. “There was nowhere I could get past without Steven making a mistake,” said Harvey. But he maintained a relentless pressure, nonetheless. “It was a struggle to keep Tim behind,” admitted Kane, who had to concentrate on holding second place rather than chasing Sutton.
Meanwhile, Sutton drove superbly to score an emphatic victory. “That’s just the way I wanted to win it, and for once it all went to plan. It did help me out that Steven was under pressure from Tim,” said Sutton.
Behind the top three, Sam Hancock (Clapham) had to fight back ahead of Michael Caine (Newmarket) to reclaim fourth, and mid-race Hancock was nearly able to tag on to the Kane/Harvey battle, but the gap never quite came down enough for it to become a three-way contest. Caine was a lonely fifth, while Rice won the pro-am category as Andy Britnell (Hildenborough, Kent) chased.
“I got a mega start; it went like a bullet,” said Britnell, who was nearly up alongside Rice on the rush to the first corner. However, as Rice moved to the right to avoid another car, Britnell had to back off. “I had to come out of it. I think if I could have got Nigel then, I could have stayed there.” As it was, Rice built an advantage in the opening laps and was able to stay clear for his sixth pro-am win in seven races. “That was pretty straightforward,” said Rice.
Pete Osborne (Worksop) made a mighty start to set him on the way to third in pro-am and his progress was aided when Charles Bateman (Boston) spun at the chicane on the second lap. He later worked back to fourth in pro-am, finishing ahead of Peter Morris (Tamworth) and Colin Willmott (Redditch).
Round eight
Sutton completed a perfect weekend with another victory in round eight on Sunday. Sutton led from the start as his rivals battled and it was Kane and Hancock who ultimately completed the podium, while Rice won the pro-am category for the seventh time in eight races.
Starting from pole position, Sutton again led the pack into the first corner and then drove a textbook race to win by just over two seconds. Although Kane never stopped chasing, he was eventually forced to settle for second place and his result was enough to take Kane into the lead of the championship.
“That’s exactly what we wanted to do,” said Sutton. “This result has come slightly earlier than I thought it might and it’s a turning point for my confidence. I’m enjoying it a lot!” Sutton’s dominance of both races also earned him the ‘RAC driver of the weekend’ award. Meanwhile, Red Line Racing earned the ‘RAC team of the weekend’ award for a tremendous team effort.
Kane was pleased to take over the championship lead from Harvey on his first visit to Croft for three years and his first races in a Porsche at the Yorkshire track. “To get two second places and come out with the championship lead is all we could have hoped for,” said Kane.
While Sutton and Kane edged clear of the pack, much of the excitement centred on the battle for third place. Caine made a fantastic start and briefly held second, but then settled in to third place with Harvey right on his tail. Meanwhile, Hancock was charging up the field from the back of the grid. Having badly damaged one set of tyres with a high speed spin in qualifying, Hancock elected to take a new set of tyres for the second race and start from the back of the grid as allowed under championship regulations.
By mid-race it was a three-car train, but Harvey was struggling with damaged steering after clipping the tyres at the chicane. Into Tower for the eleventh time, Harvey dived up alongside Caine and the cars touched. Caine spun and Harvey continued, but now had Hancock pressing hard. Two laps later, Hancock managed to battle ahead of Harvey at Tower and make certain of his first visit to the Carrera Cup podium. “Tim’s a really tough racer,” said Hancock. “I just want to thank the team at Motorbase for their support,” he added.
Rice also got ahead of Caine, but then had to fend him off over the final laps to take fifth overall and pro-am victory. “I thought if I could keep him between me and Andy Britnell I’d get another point,” said Rice. Caine, meanwhile, was pleased to have found better pace for the second race. “The car was better; we found a problem after the first race,” explained Caine.
Britnell took second in pro-am and was never far away from Rice, while Osborne fended off Bateman and Willmott for third in pro-am.
