Caine and Bridgman share Carrera Cup wins at Knockhill

Michael Caine and Tim Bridgman shared the wins at Knockhill in rounds 13 and 14 of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB on Sunday 16 August as some great racing thrilled fans at the Fife track near Edinburgh.

Round 13

The first race was all about tyre choice on a wet but drying track and Caine’s choice of slicks paid massive dividends for the Newmarket racer as the race progressed. Through to a magnificent second overall and Pro-Am1 victory came Glynn Geddie (Aberdeen), while Glenn McMenamin (Milton Keynes) bagged the Pro-Am2 win after a hectic race.

As the race start approached the rain cleared and the track began to dry. But the field was split on tyre choice and title contenders Bridgman (Stansted) and Tim Harvey (Oxford) both opted for wets as they continued their battle for the overall title. However, Caine was third on the grid and gambled on slicks, along with Geddie, Robert Lawson (Richmond), Charles Bateman (Boston) and Pro-Am2 front-runners McMenamin, Paul Hogarth (Knutsford) and Bob Lyons (Aberdeen).

Initially, with Caine making a cautious start as he waited for his slicks to come up to temperature, the leading trio of Bridgman, Harvey and James Sutton (Barnet) went a long way clear. But as early as lap four it was clear that slicks had been the right choice and Caine quickly started to recover ground. By lap 14, Caine swept through into the lead and soon pulled well clear, leaving Bridgman and Harvey to face a rapid fall down the order as the track continued to dry over the second half of the race.

Such was his advantage over Bridgman and Harvey that Caine was able to lap them in the later stages as they dropped to sixth and seventh at the flag. “I had to get heat into the tyres at the start,” said Caine. “For a couple of laps I wasn’t sure and it was a complete lottery. But there was no point being on the same tyres; you’ve got to be different. This time it worked for us!”

While Caine went clear, Geddie and Lawson led the chase as they worked through to second and third overall and battled for Pro-Am1 victory. They had both driven fine races, coping well on slicks in the early laps before capitalising on their tyre choice. “It was brilliant,” said Geddie after his best result to date – and on his home track.

“All we really wanted this season was to get in the top three,” he said afterwards. Lawson, meanwhile, was frustrated to have lost the Pro-Am1 lead to Geddie in early traffic. “It was a close call; I was just disappointed with the traffic,” said Lawson. Through to fourth and fifth in a race full of overtaking came Bateman and Ollie Jackson (Norfolk), with Bateman challenging Lawson at the flag and Jackson completing the Pro-Am1 podium.

The contest in Pro-Am2 was just as dramatic, with McMenamin having to drive the race of his life to battle ahead of Hogarth, as Lyons hunted them down in third place. After a race-long battle, less than a fifth of a second decided the result after McMenamin tigered ahead of Hogarth at the final corner. “George Brewster went off like a scalded cat,” said McMenamin of the Celtic Speed car on wets in the early laps. “Then I saw him in the distance,” he added, before moving ahead with Hogarth in pursuit. “I’m just so chuffed; I can’t believe the result,” said McMenamin.

Round 14

Bridgman drove a faultless race to win round 14 on Sunday afternoon. Bridgman headed title rival Harvey as Geddie completed a Pro-Am1 double and fellow Scot George Brewster (Edinburgh) made it a good day for the home crowd by winning Pro-Am2.

On a fully dry track, Harvey converted pole into an early lead, but Bridgman dived cleanly through into the lead at the Hairpin on lap three and was able to edge clear. While Bridgman consolidated his lead, Harvey came under pressure from team-mate Sutton and Caine, as Caine battled through to fourth from sixth on the grid. But the race belonged to Bridgman, who had gone over five seconds clear by the end of 30 laps. “I’m very pleased with that,” said Bridgman. “This morning’s race was far from ideal, so it was good to come back with a strong win.”

Harvey fended off Sutton for second, but accepted that he did not have the pace to take the fight to Bridgman. “The set-up wasn’t quite right and we had a bit too much understeer,” reported Harvey.

Initially, it seemed like Caine would take the fight to Sutton and Harvey, but he found his car losing power slightly from mid-race. “The car was perfect, but then I lost power. We had the same problem in the first race and we thought we’d sorted it out.”

Behind the top four, a fine drive from Tom Bradshaw (Blackburn) took him clear of a squabbling pack to take fifth in one of his best races of the season so far. Completing the top six and taking a double Pro-Am1 win was Geddie, who battled ahead of Lawson in the early laps to conclude a great weekend. Geddie was also named ‘Driver of the Weekend’, while Motorbase Performance won the ‘Team of the Weekend’ award for an outstanding performance in the opening race.

Behind Geddie things were far from settled as up to six cars battled furiously, with Lawson trying to fend off Tony Gilham (Dartford), Bateman, Derek Pierce (West Kilbride), Jackson and Andrew Herron (Co Down).

Lawson was struggling with an ill-handling car after a knock from Geddie, and so it was Gilham who profited to place second in Pro-Am1, despite a wild ride across the gravel at Duffus Dip. Lawson took third in Pro-Am1 from Jackson, while Herron and Pierce spun at Duffus after contact, which sent Herron into the tyre wall. Hopes of another big battle in Pro-Am2 were dashed early on when Hogarth was hit by Lyons at McIntyres. Hogarth limped to the pits with a puncture, while Lyons was out on the spot. Instead, Brewster swept through to win from McMenamin and Robin Clark (Edenbridge).

The next round of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship takes place at Silverstone on August 29/30.