Bridgman heads Donington test

in Porsche Carrera Cup GB Tim Bridgman headed the time sheets for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB after official testing at Donington yesterday (14 May) ahead of rounds five and six of the championship this weekend (16/17 May). Meanwhile, Robert Lawson set the pro-am1 pace and Paul Hogarth topped pro-am2.Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) was the only driver to break the 1m9s barrier as a run on new tyres late in the second session set the pace despite the threat of rain. Having done a race-distance run in the morning, Bridgman waited for the track to dry out in the second session before launching his attack. "We're back where we should be," he said, referring to a troubled weekend in the previous event at Thruxton. "The track was definitely slower this afternoon, so we should have been in the mid-1m8s bracket."A quarter of a second behind Bridgman was Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance), who also felt that there was a better lap to come. "It was consistent, but I had a problem getting a clear lap," said the Thruxton race winner. An impressive third fastest for Red Line Racing was James Sutton, who set his afternoon best on used tyres. "That's enough to show we've got the pace and I'd expect to find a bit more on new tyres."Fourth fastest was Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing), who had his morning new tyre run spoilt by an uncharacteristic spin at the Old Hairpin. "Not an outstanding day," said Harvey. "I didn't get the most out of the new tyres this afternoon," he added.Very close to Harvey's best time were four drivers, including the top three pro-am1 racers. Fifth fastest, having been as high as second after the morning session, was Tom Bradshaw (Team Parker Racing). "I'm losing a bit of time at Coppice at the moment, but there is definitely a decent 1m8s lap in there," said Bradshaw.Just over a tenth of a second spilt the top three pro-am1 drivers, promising that some great racing within the category is in prospect. It was Robert Lawson (JHR) who set an excellent 1m09.571s best in the morning, which was just enough to stay the at the top of the pro-am1 times as Tony Gilham (Red Line Racing) got to within three-hundredths of a second in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Derek Pierce completed a fine day for the JHR squad by posting third best time, just eight-hundredths of a second behind Gilham.Michael Leonard (Team Parker Racing) will also be firmly in contention in pro-am1, with ninth fastest overall, just ahead of VIP driver Aaron Steele, who completed the top 10 with an impressive run in the Porsche Motorsport entry. Single-seater Steele is racing the car at Donington as reward for being one of the six finalists in the Carrera Cup GB Scholarship.Series returnee Paul Hogarth (IN2Racing) topped pro-am2, driving his Carrera Cup car for the first time this season. "It was getting quicker, but there is definitely more to come," said Hogarth, who headed championship newcomer Glenn McMenamin (Parr Motorsport) and Tommy Dreelan (Celtic Speed) in pro-am2.

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