Sutton takes Porsche Carrera Cup double at Brands Hatch
James Sutton won rounds 15 and 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch over the weekend (Saturday/Sunday 18/19 August), and in the process slashed the championship lead of Steven Kane to just four points with four races to run.Round 15
Sutton won an action packed round 15 on Saturday, as battles raged all down the field. Jon Barnes scored his best result to date with second, despite fierce pressure from Tim Harvey, while Andy Britnell narrowly won the pro-am category as Nigel Rice challenged.
As rain threatened, Sutton (Barnet) got a great start from pole to lead the pack into Paddock Hill Bend as Barnes (Southampton) went side by side with Steven Kane (Northampton). They ran neck and neck all the way to Druids, where Barnes edged ahead as Tim Harvey (Oxford) and Sam Hancock (Clapham) soon made up a five-car lead pack. A few yards back, Oliver Turvey (Penrith) grabbed sixth from Michael Caine (Newmarket).
“I got a good start and tucked in behind James. I was right with him until the first shower started, and I was a little bit nervous about driving the car in the damp on slicks for the first time, which let James get away,” said Barnes.
Little by little, Sutton was able to extend his lead as Barnes came under pressure from Kane. But Hancock was also on a charge and dived past Harvey into Paddock to grab fourth. Six laps later, Hancock made the same move on Kane, but the cars touched wheels and, with a rear tyre pulled off the rim, Hancock spun into the gravel. Meanwhile, Kane was delayed and Harvey dived through to third. A long yellow flag period at Paddock followed as marshals worked to move Hancock’s car.
With light rain falling, Sutton had to drive a very controlled race, but extended his lead to over two seconds for a fine victory. “These little sprinkles of rain looked like tropical rainstorms from inside the car! I just had to get my head down,” said Sutton. “Fortunately I got a bit of a gap and I could manage myself from then on.”
However, things were far from settled in the battle for second and Harvey mounted a mighty challenge on Barnes over the closing laps. “Towards the end I could see that Tim was on a charge,” said Barnes. “The last six laps I just sat in the middle of the track. That’s a really good result.”
Harvey, meanwhile, tried all ways to depose Barnes, but never found a gap. “There was absolutely nothing I could do. Even if I got a run out of Clearways, there were yellow flags at Paddock. I needed him to make a little mistake,” said Harvey. Kane struggled over the second half of the race, but still claimed important points in fourth, as Caine moved ahead of Turvey after a clash at Clearways and they both moved in on Kane in the closing stages.
In pro-am, Charles Bateman (Lincoln) was out on the opening lap after contact sent him through the gravel at Paddock, and it was Britnell who led as Pete Osborne (Worksop) slotted into second from Rice (Beverley). It took Rice a while to find a way around the flying Osborne and he then mounted a race-long pressure on Britnell. But the local racer drove a great race to take pro-am spoils by a fifth of a second. “That was frantic,” said Britnell. “Nigel drove a terrific race, but the team had given me a great car.”
Round 16
On a virtually dry track, the drama in round 16 started at the first corner. While Sutton and Barnes went side by side through Paddock Hill Bend, in the battle for third place there was contact between Kane and Harvey. Kane’s car spun and Harvey went through the gravel, losing its front splitter in the process. Kane then had to make a pit stop for a tyre change and rejoined a lap down, while Harvey dropped to the tail of the field. Up front, Sutton finally squeezed clear of Barnes on the exit of Druids to take the lead as Caine and Turvey took third and fourth.
That was how the leading quartet stayed, but the lead gap was seldom more than a second as Barnes gave a dogged chase of Sutton. “I thought I’d got a bit of a break and then he caught me again,” said Sutton. “The first lap after the safety car went in my car was all over the place,” said Barnes after an early caution period when Maxi Jazz (Red Line Racing) spun into the gravel at Paddock. “But over the last third of the race it was really good,” he added, after the gap came down again in the final laps.
Caine was only a second adrift in third, but had Turvey as a constant shadow. “It’s tough, but I was pleased to go with the guys at the front,” said Turvey after an impressive weekend as the guest driver in the Porsche Motorsport entry. “I’d love to come back!”
Through from the back of the grid into a fine fifth came Hancock and he was closing on the cars ahead in the second half of the race. But before he got to fifth, he had to battle ahead of the pro-am leaders, Britnell and Rice. “If I’d been able to get through to fifth sooner, I think I could have tagged on to the guys in front,” said Hancock.
The battle for pro-am was an absorbing contest as Britnell drove a mighty race to soak up relentless pressure from Rice to score his second pro-am win of the weekend. “That was a great race,” said Britnell. “Nigel’s a formidable competitor and it was really good to do it here in front of a lot of guests.” Rice was right on Britnell’s tail at the flag and also had to contend with the recovering Harvey. But having battled ahead of Rice at Paddock, Harvey slid wide at Druids and lost the place back again as he battled with major understeer, the legacy of losing the front splitter on the opening lap.
Osborne claimed the third podium place in pro-am, but was under pressure at the flag from Bateman, who had driven well from the back of the grid. Kane was classified 12th and saw what started the weekend as a 28-point championship lead over Sutton reduced to just four points.
