Thruxton finale for Porsche Carrera Cup GB title race

Three drivers will head to Thruxton over the weekend of 13/14 October to decide the destiny of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB title during rounds 19 and 20 at the Hampshire track.

James Sutton, Tim Harvey and Steven Kane are all in the running for the overall title, while the battle for the pro-am crown is between Nigel Rice and Andy Britnell.

Up until round 14 of the 20-race season, Kane (Northampton) was well on target to win the championship. But a poor weekend at Brands Hatch was only a warm-up for a disaster at the most recent race weekend at Knockhill, when Kane left Scotland without completing a racing lap.

Instead, it is Red Line Racing's Sutton (Barnet) and Harvey (Oxford) who now lead the title race heading to Thruxton. Sutton has a 10-point lead, and he can afford to turn in two measured drives and take the title. "We’ve had a fantastic season and wouldn’t have expected anything like this," said Sutton at Knockhill. "I’m pleased to be in the situation I am now with two races to go."

Harvey, meanwhile, really thought that his title bid was over after a bad weekend at Donington in July. "I honestly thought I was out of the championship, I was so far behind," said Harvey. "But we've persevered and luck has gone our way. We're in with a shout and that's all you can ever ask for." Harvey needs to significantly out-score Sutton this weekend to take the title, but Tim knows better than most just how things can change when championships go down to the wire.

Kane is now the outsider, and needs both Sutton and Harvey to hit trouble as he starts the weekend 12 points behind Harvey and 22 points down on Sutton. Kane can do nothing less than try and win both races and see where that leaves him. "I went well at Thruxton in the spring. I’m quite fast there, so we can only go and see what it brings."

Leading the chase of the three title contenders will be Michael Caine (Newmarket) and Sam Hancock (Clapham). Caine continues to chase his first Carrera Cup win, while Hancock claimed his first win in the championship during a mighty performance at Knockhill and will be eager to win again. Another driver edging ever closer to his first Carrera Cup win is Southampton's Jon Barnes and he will be a strong contender at his home track, while Mark Cole (Inkpen) is another Thruxton ace.

Also to be settled at Thruxton is the contest for the pro-am category and the advantage is clearly with Rice (Beverley), with a 13-point lead over Britnell (Hildenborough, Kent). In truth, that should be enough margin for Rice to clinch the pro-am title that he has led all season, but Britnell is still chasing hard and knows that one slip for the Yorkshireman will throw the contest wide open.

While Rice and Britnell are the two top scorers in pro-am, they have a gaggle of challengers, notably Charles Bateman (Boston), Pete Osborne (Worksop), Steve Clark (Worcester) and Colin Willmott (Redditch).

Add in guest racer, and former McLaren/Autosport/BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award winner, Jonny Kane in the Porsche Motorsport entry and the stage is set for a pair of cracking races to wrap up the season.