Damien Faulkner closed in on the 2005 title with victory in an action-packed round 17 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Silverstone on Sunday. Faulkner battled ahead of Richard Westbrook for victory as a wet buy drying track delivered a thrilling race of constantly changing fortunes and fierce battles all the way down the pack.For the first half of the race, Westbrook (Red Line Racing) and Tim Harvey (Team RPM) battled for the lead as the track surface started to dry out. However, with all the cars running on treaded tyres, the complexion changed dramatically as the race developed.First to suffer was Harvey, as his tyres started to lose grip and as he dropped away from Westbrook he started to come under pressure from Faulkner (Team Parker Racing). By mid-distance Faulkner had caught Harvey and, with his car sliding around increasingly, Harvey was unable to fend Faulkner off when he dived through into Copse on lap 13. While Jason Templeman (Team Parker Racing) also started to close in on Harvey, Faulkner started hunting down race leader Westbrook.“I got a slow puncture and so they were reeling me in,” said Westbrook. By lap 17, Faulkner was right on Westbrook’s tail, with Templeman closing fast. Faulkner grabbed the lead into Copse, but Westbrook dived back ahead as Becketts as Faulkner saw him coming and made room. That allowed Templeman to make it a three-way lead battle and he even briefly grabbed second from Faulkner at Luffield on lap 18.Still Westbrook held on in the face of constant challenges from Faulkner, who’s car was clearly now faster as the track dried still further. Then, through Brooklands for the penultimate time, Templeman clipped the back of Faulkner’s car and damaged his radiator. Finally, into Copse for the last time, Faulkner went decisively ahead and immediately pulled a few yards clear of Westbrook to take a remarkable victory. “It was quite a tricky race and the championship was at stake,” said Faulkner of his carefully measured performance. With his car leaking coolant from the damaged radiator, Templeman had a quick spin on the final lap as he finished third behind Westbrook. “It was a really good race,” said Westbrook on the podium. “It was the best race this season,” confirmed Templeman after a fighting drive.Harvey was a secure fourth, but fifth place provided more fabulous racing as four cars battled furiously for position. Scott Mansell made the early running in the Porsche Cars with Team Autosport entry. However, as his tyres suffered the battling Red Line Racing cars of Nigel Rice and Stephen Shanly reeled him in. Then, in the later stages, Steve Clark (Team RPM) worked into contention to make it a four-way battle, with the cars running three abreast on several occasions.Ultimately, it was Shanly who worked to the front of the pack to take fifth from Clark, Rice and Mansell. “That was really, really good. It was very fair,” said Shanly. “That was a great race; my car was really good at the end when the others were struggling,” added Clark.Provisional results (20 laps):1 Damien Faulkner (Team Parker Racing)          22m07.748s2 Richard Westbrook (Red Line Racing)           22m09.894s3 Jason Templeman (Team Parker Racing)          22m17.519s4 Tim Harvey (Team RPM)                         22m20.254s5 Stephen Shanly (Red Line Racing)              22m24.077s6 Steve Clark (Team RPM)                        22m24.505s7 Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing)                  22m25.372s8 Scott Mansell (Porsche Cars Team Autosport)   22m27.962s9 Jason Young (Red Line Racing)                 22m37.865s10 Paul Ip (Team RPM)