Bridgman takes Carrera Cup GB double at Oulton Park

Tim Bridgman scored a double victory in rounds seven and eight of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Oulton Park, Cheshire, over the weekend (30/31 May 2009). In the Pro-Am1 category, Robert Lawson also scored a double win, while Karl Leonard and Glenn McMenamin shared the wins in the Pro-Am2 category.

Meanwhile, at the Lausitzring in Germany on the same weekend, the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland celebrated the 1,000th Carrera Cup race since its creation in 1990 – an impressive achievement which underlines the status of the Porsche Carrera Cup as the world’s most successful single-marque trophy series.

Round seven

Michael Caine (Newmarket) got the jump on Bridgman (Stansted) off the starting line, but Caine’s lead lasted only until the Island Hairpin on lap one when Bridgman dived for the inside line. As the cars touched, Caine was forced wide and instantly pushed back to fourth place by Red Line Racing team mates James Sutton (Barnet) and Tim Harvey (Oxford). “The car wasn’t right after that,” said Caine, who settled into fourth as the leading quartet started to edge away. After the race, Bridgman was penalised three Championship points over the first-lap incident.

Sutton gave valiant chase to Bridgman over the early laps, but gradually the gap extended as Bridgman pressed home his advantage. “I had to work hard to stay up there and I paid for it later,” said Sutton, who dropped away from the leader over the closing laps and concentrated on monitoring the gap to the chasing Harvey.

Up front, however, Bridgman maintained a strong pace all the way to the finish. “You never know what’s going to happen, so I kept pushing hard. That’s an important result,” said Bridgman. Behind Sutton, Harvey claimed his 80th Carrera Cup GB podium as Caine spun out later after contact with Robin Clark (Kent) while being lapped. One of the drives of the race came from Karl Leonard (Ireland) who raced to a clear fourth and a resounding Pro-Am2 victory, going clear of the rest of the field. “I just lacked a tiny bit of pace at the start against the top four,” said Leonard. “Then I was well clear of the rest so there was no point pushing.”

In contrast, the battle for the Pro-Am1 category was race-long and intense, with up to five cars in the pack. For the first nine laps, Derek Pierce (West Kilbride) fended off his team mate Lawson (Richmond) despite intense pressure. However, up into contention came Ollie Jackson (Ely), Tony Gilham (Dartford) and Glynn Geddie (Aberdeen) to make a fabulous five-car battle. Eventually, Lawson dived past Pierce under braking for Knickerbrook, but in doing so he clipped the tyres and had to contend with poor handling after that. “I’m amazed that it hung on to the end,” said Lawson. “I thought I was out.”

Jackson then moved ahead of Pierce at Lodge, and as Pierce was edged wide he dropped behind Gilham. Then, Pierce suffered suspension damage after hitting the Knickerbrook kerb and went out as Gilham attacked Jackson for second. With a bold move under braking at Old Hall, Gilham grabbed second. “Tony pulled a really good move on me, but that was a great race,” said Jackson. “I always do it the hard way,” said Gilham after an attacking drive from 12th on the grid to sixth.

With a final charge, Richard Singleton (Conwy) nipped ahead of Geddie on the final lap to take eighth overall after a fine comeback. After being squeezed wide at the first corner, Singleton tigered back from 15th place to finish eighth on his Carrera Cup debut in the Porsche Driving Experience Centre Silverstone-liveried car. Meanwhile, Bob Lyons (Aberdeen) had to push hard to fend off Glenn McMenamin (Milton Keynes) for second in Pro-Am2. “I thought I’d got rid of him, but then I made a mistake and he was in my mirrors the rest of the race,” said Lyons.

Round eight

Glinting in the early summer sun, the packed grid of 420bhp 911 GT3 Cup cars made an impressive sight as they formed up at the start of the eighth round. Bridgman got the jump off the line to head the pack into Old Hall as Caine and the fast-starting Karl Leonard filled the next places. However, Sutton dived ahead of Leonard at Druids and Harvey soon edged Leonard back to fifth.

Caine gave chase to Bridgman and the small lead margin that Bridgman had built was lost when the Safety Car came out on lap six. Suffering a front tyre problem, Leonard went off into the gravel at the Druids corner and the field bunched up behind the Safety Car while Leonard’s car was retrieved.

“I gained the gap back with a good re-start,” said Bridgman and Caine soon realised that he could not take the fight to Bridgman. Instead, Caine had to concentrate on his mirrors as Sutton closed in. Into the Island Hairpin on lap 14, Caine slid wide and Sutton nipped through to make sure of second as Harvey tracked them in fourth place.

That was how it ran to the flag, with Bridgman taking his fourth win of the season to trim Harvey’s Championship lead to just two points. “The team has really delivered for me this weekend,” said Bridgman. “That’s the first time I’ve ever had a good weekend at Oulton Park.”

Sutton claimed second and earned the ‘Driver of the Weekend’ award, while Caine completed the overall podium, suffering from a lack of rear grip as the race developed.

In Pro-Am1 there was more great racing, with Lawson taking control after the re-start as he battled for fifth overall with Tom Bradshaw (Blackburn). Slight contact as they ran neck-and-neck into Druids sent Bradshaw through the gravel and left Lawson with a secure fifth place finish and Pro-Am1 victory. “I’m pleased with that; but I didn’t quite have the pace after the Safety Car to go with the top four,” said Lawson.

Up into second in Pro-Am1 came Michael Leonard (Ireland) after an inspired drive, while Pierce and Gilham were badly delayed at Cascades on the opening lap. Instead, it was Jackson who took third in Pro-Am1 from Pierce and Gilham.

With Karl Leonard out of the race, the Pro-Am2 battle was a race-long contest between McMenamin and Lyons. Lyons led the opening lap, but McMenamin saw a chance at Lodge at the end of the first lap and dived ahead. He then had to withstand constant pressure from Lyons with only a fifth of a second between them at the flag. “That was just intense; he made me earn it,” said McMenamin of his first Carrera Cup win. However, Lyons was later excluded over a technical infringement, handing second in Pro-Am2 to Michael Corridan (Mill Hill.

The next race in the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship is at Croft, near Darlington, North Yorkshire on June 12/13.