Westbrook does Carrera Cup double
Richard Westbrook wrapped up the season with another commanding win in round 20 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch yesterday.In a repeat of the earlier race, Westbrook swept ahead from the start and dominated the race from the front. In his wake, Damien Faulkner took second place from Jason Templeman as Team Parker Racing clinched the teams’ championship.Westbrook (Red Line Racing) got the start he wanted to beat Templeman into Paddock Hill Bend and was quickly able to establish a lead. While Tim Harvey (Team RPM) challenged the pair of Team Parker Racing cars, Westbrook pulled out a lead of over four seconds.Harvey was able to move ahead of Faulkner for third place out of Graham Hill Bend, but was caught out by coolant dropped a lap earlier at Surtees. “Jason got a bit sideways on the coolant and I couldn’t avoid him,” explained Harvey. The contact with the back of Templeman’s car damaged a radiator on Harvey’s car and his race was over, along with any chance of taking third in the championship.With Harvey out, Faulkner could race with his team mate and when Templeman had a moment at Westfield on lap seven, Faulkner nipped ahead. However, though he closed the gap to Westbrook a little, the leader was never in any danger of being caught. “I wanted to end on a high and that’s what I’ve done. The 996 has been a brilliant car for me over three years!”Faulkner was equally pleased to help secure the team title for Team Parker Racing. “We’ve accomplished everything we set out to do,” he confirmed. That also applied to Templeman, who secured third in the championship with third place in the final round, even though his engine was losing power over the closing laps after the contact from Harvey had damaged the exhaust.Fourth place fell to Tim Bridgman after a fine drive in the Porsche Cars with Team Autosport entry. Having started at the back of the grid after retiring from the opening race, he battled up the order and benefited from a couple of retirements to finish a strong fourth. “It’s been a brilliant weekend, and I’d like to thank Porsche Cars and Autosport for giving me this opportunity.”Out on the opening lap after a tangle at Surtees went Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing) and David Pinkney (Motorbase Performance) and so it was Jason Young (Red Line Racing) who took an excellent fifth as Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance), Stephen Shanly (Red Line Racing) and Steve Clark (Team RPM) chased.Provisional results – 12 laps:1 Richard Westbrook (Red Line Racing) 18m26.713s2 Damien Faulkner (Team Parker Racing) 18m30.267s3 Jason Templeman (Team Parker Racing) 18m37.446s4 Tim Bridgman (Porsche Cars Team Autosport)18m42.920s5 Jason Young (Red Line Racing) 18m51.113s6 Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance) 18m52.091s7 Stephen Shanly (Red Line Racing) 18m53.386s8 Steve Clark (Team RPM) 18m55.109s9 David Ashburn (Trackspeed) 19m03.775s10 Michael Corridan (Team Parker Racing) 11 laps