Hancock and Harvey win in Carrera Cup at Knockhill

Sam Hancock and Tim Harvey shared the wins in rounds 17 and 18 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill over the weekend (1/2 September). The pair of races at the Scottish track dramatically changed the complexion of the title race as Steven Kane failed to finish either race. Instead, James Sutton and Harvey have moved into the top two championship places with only two races left to run.

Round 17

Hancock (Clapham) scored his debut championship win on Saturday. In a dramatic race, Steven Kane (Northampton) retired on the opening lap and fifth place was enough to put Sutton (Barnet) into the championship lead, while second place has moved Harvey (Oxford) firmly into contention for the title with three races to run.

The action started at the first corner as Motorbase Performance team mates Hancock and Kane ran side by side. Hancock had the inside line and Kane slid wide across the gravel. Kane’s car bounced into the air, which damaged its radiator, and then came back onto the track in front of Jon Barnes (Southampton). Barnes had to take to the grass on the right and in the confusion Sutton ran wide onto the grass at the next corner.

The result of this was a healthy first lap lead for Hancock as Michael Caine (Newmarket) dived through to second from Harvey, Barnes and Sutton. However, both Caine and Barnes had problems. Caine had briefly followed Kane towards the chicane and collected a screen full of coolant, which left him struggling for visibility, while Barnes had lost his front splitter and was struggling with understeer. Kane, however, headed for the pits to retire and suffer a major blow to his championship hopes.

Up front, Hancock had no such problems and took his lead out to around six seconds as Harvey challenged Caine. “When the sun came out I couldn’t see a thing,” said Caine. “I had the sun in my eyes along to Carlube and it was like having a blanket over the screen. When the sun went in, it was okay.” Struggling to see his braking point on lap 13 at Carlube, Caine ceded the place to Harvey, realising that following Harvey would make it easier to see the line.

Once through to second, Harvey chased Hancock and brought the gap down to under four seconds, but Hancock was not to be denied his first Carrera Cup win. “I’ve been working towards this all year,” said Hancock. “That’s a great sense of relief!” Harvey, too, was delighted with a result that has pushed him right back into the title race. “I had a very good race. This championship has a habit of turning around and it’s all to play for.”

Caine completed the podium, while Barnes and Sutton ran fourth and fifth to the flag. Knowing that Kane was out, Sutton opted to make certain of a strong finish rather than launch an attack on Barnes and it was a result that takes him to the top of the points. Andy Britnell (Hildenborough, Kent) led pro-am from the start after making a great getaway, and lost his challenger when Nigel Rice (Beverley) went out with a broken driveshaft. However, up to Britnell came Charles Bateman (Boston) after battling ahead of Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet) in the Porsche Motorsport entry.

Britnell was struggling at the hairpin after an inadvertent bump from Rice in the first corner confusion. That bent the exhaust tail pipe on Britnell’s car. “It wouldn’t pull out of the hairpin in second, I was having to go down to first gear.” Bateman saw his chance and pulled off a superb move to cut inside Britnell on the exit of the hairpin and out-drag him up the hill. “Charles drove a nice clean race,” said Britnell as Colin Willmott (Redditch) joined them on the pro-am podium. “I knew Andy wouldn’t let me go down the inside of him under braking, he’s too wily for that,” said Bateman after his second pro-am win.

Round 18

Harvey moved strongly back into contention for the title with victory in round 18 on Sunday. While Kane’s nightmare weekend continued, Harvey closed to within 10 points of new championship leader Sutton to set up a dramatic finale at Thruxton in October.


Kane’s race was over before it started when a driveshaft broke on the green flag lap. He toured into the pits, having failed to complete a racing lap in two races. “It’s terrible,” said Kane of his weekend. “The championship is over for me.”

Kane’s Motorbase Performance team mate Hancock started from pole, but too much wheelspin allowed Harvey to grab the lead and this pair quickly edged clear of the pack. After 10 laps, Hancock was starting to build the pressure on Harvey when he picked up a front puncture and was forced into the pits for a wheel change. “I was really relaxed and I was biding my time. I think I had the pace to get by,” said Hancock, who rejoined to finish ninth and earn the ‘RAC driver of the weekend’ award after his debut Carrera Cup win the previous day.

Now Harvey was away and clear and drove a carefully measured race to win and put himself firmly in contention for the title. “It was a perfect race, but when you’ve got a five-second lead it’s pretty straightforward. I was just worried about punctures all the way through.”

Caine led the chase of Harvey, as Barnes and Sutton took third and fourth. “It kept kicking out of gear when I took big air over the kerbs at Duffus Dip,” said Caine, but he was able to keep Barnes and Sutton at bay. In taking a carefully controlled fourth, Sutton leaves Knockhill with a 10-point championship lead over Harvey.

A mighty fifth place, and pro-am victory, went to Britnell after fending off a persistent challenge from Bateman. “I got a brilliant start to get ahead of Charles and the car’s grip through the race was spot on,” said Britnell. For their work in rebuilding Kane’s car after accident in qualifying and wins for Hancock and Britnell over the weekend, Motorbase Performance earned the ‘RAC team of the weekend’ award.
Rice chased Britnell and Bateman race-long, but could not quite get on terms as he maintained the pro-am championship lead with third place in pro-am, while Metcalfe claimed eighth overall ahead of Hancock in the Porsche Motorsport entry.