Bridgman claims Porsche Carrera Cup GB double at Rockingham

Tim Bridgman claimed a superb double victory in rounds three and four of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham on Sunday (13 April). In both races, Bridgman (Stansted, Essex) saw off the early challenge of Tim Harvey to take a stylish double win.

Round three
The start was all-important and the leading drivers were evenly matched as they raced through Turn One and down the Deane hairpin. “I managed to get a good start and pull out a gap in the early laps,” said Bridgman after a faultless performance. Harvey (Oxford) chased hard for many laps, but over the closing stages the gap grew as Harvey found his car struggling for pace. “Tim drove a really tidy race,” said Harvey of his rival. “My car was consistent all the way through,” said Bridgman.

Conversely, Harvey found his car’s handling going away as the race developed. “We haven’t done as much dry testing as the others and we just need to make a couple of changes to make it last better in the race,” said Harvey.

In fact, Michael Caine (Newmarket) was catching Harvey over the closing stages, with Caine having run much of the race with Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) in close attendance. However, Harvey had things under control and that was how they finished, with Smith impressing with a mature drive to fourth. “Tim was struggling a bit later in the race, but I had understeer all the time,” said Caine. “That was definitely good experience,” said Smith after chasing the leaders. “I briefly got up to third at the first corner. The set-up changes we made after qualifying worked really well.”

A tremendous battle raged over fifth place for much of the race as Sam Hancock (London) and Charles Bateman (Boston) fought tooth and nail. Bateman briefly got ahead, but Hancock re-challenged at Deane and they both ran wide after slight contact. Eventually, Bateman had a quick spin at Brooke and so Hancock was finally safe in fifth. Phil Quaife (Tonbridge) was out before the start with a gearbox problem.

There was drama in the Pro-Am1 category as well as Nigel Rice (Beverley) fought back from a drive-through penalty. Rice spun on the parade lap and was penalised for recovering to his grid position. After the penalty, he was third in Pro-Am1, but tigered back to pass team mate Fergus Campbell (Wandsworth) for second and set about closing the gap to leader Tony Gilham (Dartford).

On the final lap they were nose to tail, but Gilham held on very well to claim victory. “I saw that he had a drive-through penalty and so mid-race I backed off a bit to save my tyres,” said Gilham. But in the last two laps, Rice came storming up into contention and Gilham had to defend hard to make sure of his win. “I just managed to hold him off,” said Gilham.

Round four
In what was something of a re-run of the earlier race, Bridgman went ahead from the start and was able to work clear of Harvey as Caine again completed the podium. “It’s been a perfect weekend and that’s just what we needed after Brands,” said Bridgman. “The team gave me a great car and I was really focused on getting a strong weekend, so I’m really, really pleased,” said Bridgman.

With Bridgman settled into the lead and Harvey establishing himself in second place, the focus of attention moved to the contest for third as Hancock dived through to third at the first corner ahead of Caine. “As I went from fourth to fifth out of Turn One, it jumped out of gear,” said Caine, after briefly losing momentum.

Smith was also in the scrabble for position in the opening corners, but spun at Yentwood and also tipped Bateman into a spin. Both resumed after a delay as Caine set about challenging Hancock. But with Quaife right on his tail, Caine found himself sandwiched between team mates.

For lap after lap, Caine attacked Hancock but it was not until lap 16, three from the finish, that Caine finally squeezed ahead after they ran side-by-side through Brooke. By now, Harvey was long gone in second, but Caine believed that it could have been different if he had found a gap to get by Hancock earlier. “I think our car had the pace to be second,” said Caine. Harvey, meanwhile, acknowledged that Bridgman was out of reach. “It was pretty much the same as the first race; I wasn’t going to catch him today.”

Quaife ran close behind his team mate Hancock over the final laps to take fifth place, but was under pressure at the flag from Smith after the guest racer mounted a strong recovery following his first lap delay.

A commanding Pro-Am1 victory went to Rice, and he was just unable to go with the Pro drivers ahead of him. “I didn’t want to fight with Dean Smith when he came through,” said Rice. Second in Pro-Am1 and backing up his earlier category win was Gilham and his performance earned him the ‘Driver of the Weekend’ award, while his ReDesign Racing team was confirmed as winners of the ‘Team of the Weekend’ award.