Nick Tandy Leading The Porsche Carrera Cup GB Field Into Copse
Nick Tandy oozed class as he cruised to a comfortable victory in Round 18 of the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Silverstone, the Porsche Supercup regular leading home championship rivals James Sutton and Michael Meadows for his second win in his third race in the series.
Tandy started from pole after a dominant performance in qualifying, where he topped the timesheets for both sessions, and a great getaway saw him take the lead, while behind Sutton jumped his team-mate Meadows at the start to take second. Sam Tordoff sat in fourth, while a move at Brooklands on the opening lap saw Stephen Jelley move past Jonas Gelzinis for fifth, the former BTCC racer looking to make early progress after a disappointing qualifying performance.
The race turned out to be a dull affair, with the cars running in formation for the majority, but the excitement started again on lap twenty. Jelley had started closing on the SAS/Redline cars and got within striking distance when there was disaster for him, slight contact a lap earlier causing a broken radiator, causing his Parker with Juta-prepared car to drop fluid. Jelley spun on his own fluid, before running back to the pitlane and retiring, ending his championship hopes. Jelley's demise caused loads of fluid left on the racing line at both Becketts and Brooklands, causing many cars behind to spin.
Coping well in the tricky conditions though was Tandy, the Motorbase/Nationwide racer taking his second win in three races. Sutton took a comfortable second, with Meadows just holding onto third to maintain a one point championship lead heading into the day's final race. Tordoff continued his strong run of form with fourth, ahead of Pro-Am1 winner Gelzinis, Euan Hankey and Richard Plant.
Completing the top ten were the remaining Pro-Am1 runners, with Rory Butcher taking eighth and with it second in class. The Celtic Speed driver finished a comfortable ten seconds ahead of his next rivals, with George Richardson taking the final class podium spot ahead of Ahmad Al Harthy.
The fluid left behind by Jelley particularly affected the Pro-Am2 class. Keith Webster led the class as he looked to keep his championship hopes alive, but he spun, allowing Yucel Ozbek into the class lead, but he was passed by George Brewster, who went on to take the class win. Ozbek went on to spin himself, allowing Webster to get back into second ahead of Steve Parish and Ozbek.
