Harvey and Caine take Porsche Carrera Cup victories at Thruxton

Race wins for Tim Harvey and Michael Caine amidst some tremendous racing made it an excellent weekend for rounds three and four of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton, Hampshire over 25/26 April. With Brands Hatch winner Tim Bridgman unable to repeat his winning form, just five points now cover the Championship top three.

Round three
Harvey claimed his first victory of the season in round three in front of a live ITV4 television audience on Sunday morning. He stayed clear of Caine for a hard-earned victory as Bridgman took third, while Robert Lawson scored an impressive Pro-Am1 victory and Paul Mace headed Pro-Am2.

“The start was the key,” said Harvey (Oxford) after beating poleman Bridgman (Stansted) into the first corner. “I got a mega start and then pushed very hard in the few laps,” he added, reflecting on how quickly he went clear of Bridgman and Caine (Newmarket).

Rather than chase after Harvey as expected, Bridgman was struggling to fend off Caine, and a neat move from Caine at the Complex on lap six put him through to second. While Caine set off in pursuit of Harvey, who was now more than three seconds clear, Bridgman soon came under attack from 2007 Carrera Cup GB Champion James Sutton (Barnet) making a return to the series. Over the next 10 laps, Caine mounted a dogged pursuit of Harvey and lap-by-lap was able to rein the leader in. By lap 17, the gap was down to just 0.7s, but that was as close as it got.

“I could see Michael was pushing hard and I was just trying to manage the gap,” said Harvey. However, with three laps to run, Caine knew he had a problem. “There was a big vibration in the car with three laps left and I wasn’t sure what it was,” said Caine. “I stopped pushing; it was my decision.”

With the first two places settled, Bridgman was working hard to fend off Sutton and hang on to third place. “I’m not sure what was wrong,” said Bridgman of a troubled race. “It was really hard work with oversteer. I thought the car would improve later in the race, but instead it got worse!” he said after narrowly fending off Sutton to the flag.

Running a great fifth for much of the race was Carrera Cup Scholarship racer Lewis Hopkins (Winchester), although as he lost rear tyre grip, Lawson (Richmond, Yorks) was able to move ahead. Then on the final lap, Hopkins lost a top six finish when a rear puncture brought a very good drive to a premature end. “That’s frustrating. I felt really comfortable out there,” said Hopkins, who is having a stunning debut season in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship

Lawson claimed fifth overall, and capped an excellent race with victory in Pro-Am1. “I lost a place at the start and it was unfortunate for me the way I came across backmarkers,” he said. “But I’m very pleased with where we’ve got to.” Closing on Lawson at the flag for sixth overall and second in Pro-Am1 was Tony Gilham (Dartford) after a real charge up the order over the second half of the race. “The team set the car up for me so that it was strong over the whole race,” said Gilham, who was able to capitalise well as the race developed.

Close behind Gilham, after chasing Lawson for much of the race, was Jake Rosenzweig (London), while Glynn Geddie (Aberdeen) took eighth and the final place on the Pro-Am1 podium. Wrapping up the top 10 were Ben McLoughlin (Winchester) and Tom Bradshaw (Blackburn), while Mace (London) was thirteenth overall and a clear winner in Pro-Am2.

Round four
Caine made it three winners from four races in a tremendous round four of the Championship. While Harvey and Bridgman battled mightily for second, Caine made good his escape for a fine victory. Meanwhile, Gilham drove an excellent race to claim Pro-Am1 spoils, as Mace completed a weekend double in Pro-Am2.

Caine got a great start to beat Bridgman into Allard, with Harvey third. Initially, Caine was under intense pressure from Bridgman and knew that he had to defend his lead over the opening laps. “I knew my car wasn’t as good as Tim’s in the early laps, so I just held on. But then my car was very good mid-race.”

Sure enough, by lap 10 of 21 Caine was extending his lead as Bridgman came under increasing pressure from Harvey. As the race entered the closing stages, and with Caine now well clear, the battle between Bridgman and Harvey made a fantastic spectacle as they raced wheel-to-wheel. It finally came to a head when Harvey got the inside line on the approach to the high-speed Church Corner. Bridgman tried to hold on around the outside, but slid wide and bounced across the grass, losing the car’s front splitter in the process.

Caine stroked home to a clear victory, but Harvey was now under attack from his team-mate Sutton and the defending Champion just held on for second place. “All credit to the guys at Motorbase,” said Caine of his victory. Harvey, meanwhile, was thrilled at his battle with Bridgman. “It was great fun! We were falling over each other like a pair of junior kart racers,” said Harvey. “It was great racing.”

Behind Sutton, Rosenzweig completed a good weekend by moving ahead of Bridgman, who brought his ailing car home fifth after struggling with increasing oversteer as the race developed.

Sixth overall and a superb Pro-Am1 victory went to Gilham, but he again had to work very hard for the result. “I had to be patient at the start but then the tyres began to bed in, and I was getting quicker and quicker,” he said. He moved into the Pro-Am1 lead with a great opportunist move at the chicane as Bradshaw and Lawson battled. They slowed each other in the middle of the chicane, and Gilham swept past both of them on the run past the pits. Once ahead in Pro-Am1, Gilham was secure in sixth overall as Bradshaw took seventh and Lawson, after a quick spin, dropped a place at the last corner to McLoughlin. Lawson still took second in Pro-Am1.

McLoughlin, driving the Porsche Cars GB entry - in the livery of the Porsche Driving Experience Centre based at Silverstone – had a great weekend on his return to top flight motorsport, his pair of top ten finishes at the UK’s fastest circuit whetting his appetite for another race in the 420bhp 911 GT3 Cup car!

Tenth overall and third in Pro-Am1 to mark his 25th birthday was Ollie Jackson (Ely), but he had to race hard to see off a determined challenge from Derek Pierce (West Kilbride). While Lawson’s Pro-Am1 victory in race one earned him the ‘Driver of the Weekend’ award, JHR bagged the ‘Team of the Weekend’ award for their efforts on a first visit to Thruxton with the Carrera Cup cars.