Michael Caine continued his late season championship charge with an emphatic victory in round 13 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Silverstone. Elsewhere, Tim Harvey added to his impressive points haul, scoring his one hundredth Carrera Cup GB podium and maintaining his championship lead.
At Silverstone , there was clearly something in the water; every series racing suffered with moments of madness, and the Carrera Cup GB was no different. Throughout the twenty seven car strong field there were close battles and banging wheels.
Stephen Jelley was one driver in no mood for messing about. The ex-BTCC driver had an interesting afternoon, fending off Michael Meadows and hassling Harvey all the way to the flag, finishing nose to tail as they crossed the line. “The car was mega; even when the tyres were old,” said a thrilled Jelley.
Tim Harvey had little to do about the pace of Caine
Following a poor start off the grid, Caine's Motorbase Porsche clashed with Harvey on the opening lap. Harvey admirably got his Porsche home in second place after the first lap contact with Caine; the incident visibly unsettled his car and it was revealed after the race that Harvey's wheel alignment and tracking was out, meaning it was a fight to keep it in a straight-line on the numerous straights at Silverstone. Caine however was in stunning form and pulled out a five second lead in a matter of laps and went on to score a resounding win, his third of the season.
As ever, Caine was modest even after victory, “I didn’t get a very good start and had to brace it out on the first lap, but when I got my head down the pace was good.” Someone who wasn't quite as positive was a slightly miffed, Harvey, frustrated by his obvious lack of pace, “I’m pleased with the result but not with the pace. When you can’t take the win, you take the best you can.”
Ollie Jackson secured another Pro-Am1 Victory
With fierce battling all the way through the field, Ollie Jackson claimed another pro-am1 victory and Glenn McMenamin withstood race-long pressure to win pro-am2. Jackson was in electric form, shadowing Pro driver Meadows all the way home, finishing an impressive fifth overall. “I probably had the pace to have a go at Michael (Meadows), but pro-am1 points were more important,” said Jackson. “The car was absolutely spot on all the way through the race,” he added.
The usually blistering quick Glynn Geddie of Team Parker Racing had a race of two halves. After a dreadful start and a lacklustre opening lap that saw the Scotsman take to the grass on several occasions, his fight back was spectacular. In a one-make series, it's not often you see such bold overtaking and inspired pace, Geddie who qualified on the third row, dropped as low as14th place, returning to an impressive sixth at the flag, narrowly ahead of Euan Hankey.
Behind Geddie, Jonas Gelzinis looked set for a solid points scoring finish until on lap 24 he tangled with Bob Lyons in the Luffield complex. This left the young Lithuanian limping around with a damaged wheel, until he eventually pulled off the circuit two laps later. Lyons wasn't quite so lucky and didn't make it out of Luffield. This clash promoted Tony Gilham and Michael Leonard to the pro-am1 podium.
McMenamin took the honours in Pro-Am2
Pro-am2 was no different, with several scuffles through the ranks and an interesting race-long battle as Glenn McMenamin of Red Line Racing had to withstand constant pressure from the boys George. That is George Richardson and George Brewster. Brewster took to the tricky Silverstone National circuit with ease, posting an impressive fastest lap of 59.311 and snatching second from Richardson after an error at Luffield. After the race McMenamin recalled the scrap adding, “That was absolute pressure from the outset, the two Georges were at me all the time.”
