Michael Caine got the upper hand at Brands Hatch today as he set the pace during testing for the final two rounds of the 2010 season, his main title rival Tim Harvey wasn’t too far behind finishing the day with the second fastest time, just twelve-hundredths of a second behind.
“It’s where we need to be, with Tim behind me,” admitted Caine after setting a time of 47.206s. Both Caine and Harvey changed to new tyres halfway through the afternoon session with the pair finishing 0.124s apart.
Harvey was disappointed not to make the grade though, “There was definitely a 47.1s in the car, but I got traffic on my new tyres” he said. “The car is fantastic and our goal is to get two poles.
The championship battle is lead by Harvey, with Caine trailing 19 points behind after a strong second half of the season. Every point will count in the title battle with both drivers looking to gain the extra one point per pole position.
Glynn Geddie had a good showing finishing the day in third place. “We’re where we need to be for third” said Geddie who is looking to secure a top three championship finish. Team-mate Stephen Jelley took fourth place.
Ollie Jackson lead the way in the Pro-Am1 class finishing fifth overall, a task made all the more impressive when it was revealed the fastest time was set on used tyres. “We came here testing on Wednesday and that definitely paid off” said Jackson. I’m very happy with that buy I could have found a bit more time at Surtees.”
Second place in the Pro-Am1 class fell to Ahmad Al Harthy who finished a few places behind Jackson with Michael Meadows and Tom Bradshaw in middle of them. “It’s just a matter of finding space in qualifying” said Al Harthy. “We know we have good pace.”
Glenn McMenamin took advantage of new tyres in the cooler afternoon session to top the times in the Pro-Am2 class but was determined not to get carried away with his pace after admitting “I’ve learnt not to get too excited about testing and wait and see what happens in Qualifying.
Photo credits: Vince Pettit Photography