Bridgman and Hancock take Porsche Carrera Cup wins at Knockhill

Tim Bridgman and Sam Hancock shared the victories in rounds 15 and 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill on Sunday 17 August 2008. In an action-packed weekend, Michael Caine retained the overall championship lead, but his margin over Tim Harvey was trimmed to just five points.

In the pro-am1 category Nigel Rice and Tony Gilham shared the wins after two mighty contests, while local Kirkcaldy driver Rory Butcher drove a tremendous race in the Porsche Cars GB guest car to twice win the pro-am2 category.

Round 15

Bridgman (Stansted) got the jump on poleman Hancock (London) and was able to dive ahead as they braked for Seat Curve. “I knew if I got a good start I could keep the lead,” said Bridgman, and his plan worked to perfection. Hancock could only slot into second place at the opening corner of the race. “It felt like quite a good start, but it obviously wasn’t good enough. He had three-quarters of a length on me at the first corner,” said Hancock.

With Bridgman and Hancock settled into the top two places, Caine (Newmarket) ran third on the opening lap but was almost immediately in trouble with gearbox problems. The loss of second and fifth gear left him powerless to defend his pace and Phil Quaife (Tonbridge) and Harvey (Oxford) both swept ahead over the opening lap.

Next to edge Caine back was his team mate Charles Bateman (Boston), but it all went wrong for Bateman when he missed his braking point into Seat Curve on lap ten. The hefty impact damaged the tyre wall and though Bateman was unharmed, there was a long safety car period while the car was moved and the tyre wall rebuilt.

From the restart, just four racing laps remained and Bridgman controlled the race to take a polished victory. “It was just a case of not making a mistake,” said Bridgman. “I needed that one.” Hancock was second, but frustrated not to have converted pole position into a race win. Making it two Jota Sport drivers on the podium was Quaife, who had raced hard to fend off a typically determined challenge from Harvey. “It’s hard work to keep Tim behind, but I just stayed calm in the car,” said Quaife.

Harvey was right on Quaife’s tail at the flag, and set fastest lap in the process to pull back three points from Caine’s championship lead. “Phil drove a very tight race where he needed to,” said Harvey. Into a fine fifth overall and pro-am2 victory came Butcher (Kirkcaldy), with a very impressive performance in his first Porsche race. “That’s an awesome achievement; that’s just what I wanted to do before the weekend,” said the young Scot.
Over the line in sixth went a frustrated Caine, but the damage to his championship lead could have been far worse. From a nine-point lead over Harvey going into the race, Caine had lost only three points.

The battle for the pro-am1 category between Rice (Beverley) and Gilham (Dartford) raged race long and the decisive moment was when Rice edged ahead at the hairpin at the end of the second lap. “I was glad of the safety car because it would have been hard work for 32 laps,” said Rice. “I was biding my time to re-challenge and then the safety car came out,” said Gilham. Right behind Rice and Gilham, and finishing second in pro-am2 was Glynn Geddie (Aberdeen).

Round 16

Hancock claimed victory in a thrilling round 16 as Bridgman battled through to second place on the last lap. On an action-packed final lap, Harvey took third to close to within just three points of Caine in the championship race.

It was also dramatic in the pro-am1 category as Gilham beat Rice, but only after both had spun through the gravel after a clash at Seat Curve. Meanwhile, Butcher drove another fine race in the PCGB entry to complete a double in the pro-am2 category and finish fifth overall.

This time around, Hancock was able to convert his pole position into a first lap lead and he was never headed again, but there was plenty going on in his mirrors, with Caine as a constant shadow. “You can’t rest for a moment round here,” said Hancock, who found himself coming under increasing pressure from Caine heading into the closing stages. “I was having some brake balance issues and I just wanted to get a small margin,” said Hancock after taking victory. “To come away from the weekend with two poles, a second and a win is great.”

However, it all went awry for Caine on the final lap. He had been battling against a soft brake pedal and Bridgman was getting closer and closer having earlier battled ahead of Harvey. Into Carlube Corner with less than half a lap to go, Caine’s brake problem came to a head and he ran wide as Bridgman dived through. Then, at the final hairpin, Harvey dived inside Caine and Caine’s car spun as they touched. “Michael made a mistake and I had to go for it,” said Harvey. But the time he rejoined, Caine was down to sixth behind Quaife and Butcher.

“I was just running out of brakes,” said a frustrated Caine, having seen his nine-point championship lead over Harvey drop to three points over the course of the weekend. Bridgman, having started fifth on the grid, was elated to have fought through to second. “I’m really, really happy with that,” said Bridgman.

The battle between Gilham and Rice raged all race and came to a head as they battled side-by-side into Seat Curve with three laps to go. The cars touched and both spun into the gravel and it was Gilham who managed to get back onto the track first to make certain of victory. “I just tried to keep it spinning through the gravel. That was hard work,” said Gilham.

Behind Butcher in pro-am2, Geddie drove a measured race to take second as Graeme Mundy (Salisbury) battled through to third place.