Oulton Park next for Carrera Cup

It could not be closer at the top of the title race as the Porsche Carrera Cup GB heads to Oulton Park this weekend (26/27 July) for rounds 13 and 14 of the 20-race season. Michael Caine and Tim Harvey will arrive at the Cheshire circuit exactly level on points as the title race moves into the closing stages.Once again, an excellent field has been assembled for the Carrera Cup, with a 16-car entry including series newcomer Pippa Mann (Team Eurotech), the first female racer to register for the championship, and series returnee Alex Mortimer (Team RPM) as well as PCGB racers Paul O'Neill and Ed Pead. Former Renault Clio front-runner Pead will make his Carrera Cup debut in the pro-am2 entry from PCGB.However, at the head of the contest it is established Carrera Cup aces Caine (Team Parker Racing) and Harvey (Red Line Racing) who are tied on 198 points after 12 races. Harvey scored a dominant double victory last time out at Snetterton, but there will be very little to choose between the pair of them at the challenging and three-dimensional Oulton Park.Yet this is far from a two-horse race and three more drivers still have a serious title chance. Tim Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) has been fighting back into contention all season, but a poor weekend at Snetterton – by his own high standards – has hurt his progress and he is now 24 points behind Caine and Harvey with eight races to run. Meanwhile, Jota Sport drivers Sam Hancock and Phil Quaife are still in the battle and cannot be discounted.Meanwhile, Charles Bateman (Team Parker Racing) lies sixth in the points and demonstrated tremendous pace once again at Snetterton. Unfortunately, that wasn't converted into podium finishes, but that could easily change in Cheshire. Adding further depth of quality to the pro class will be Mann and Mortimer, while the sensation of Snetterton was young American Jake Rosenzweig (Team Parker Racing). He'll now tackle Oulton Park for the first time and is another podium contender.In pro-am1, Tony Gilham (ReDesign Racing) has a 16-point lead over Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing), and it is Rice's greater experience of Oulton Park that could help him narrow the gap. Joining Gilham and Rice in pro-am1 for a second weekend will be Andy Neate (Red Line Racing). Setting a searing pace in pro-am2, and likely to be mixing it with some of the 2008 specification cars in the pro and pro-am1 categories, will be Scottish teenager Glynn Geddie (Parr Motorsport). The 18-year old is likely to take over at the top of the pro-am2 points at Oulton, but could also be chasing top six finishes overall, such has been his pace to date. Leading the chase of Geddie will be Graeme Mundy (RSS Performance), winner of the category in round 12 at Snetterton.After qualifying on Saturday morning, round 13 will be at 3.25pm on Saturday, with round 14 scheduled for 2.10pm on Sunday.


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