James Sutton won round 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch today (Sunday 19 August), and in the process slashed the championship lead of Steven Kane to just four points with four races to run. On a virtually dry track, the drama started at the first corner. While Sutton (Red Line Racing) and Jon Barnes (Team Parker Racing) went side by side through Paddock Hill Bend, in the battle for third place there was contact between Steven Kane (Motorbase Performance) and Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing). Kane’s car spun and Harvey went through the gravel, losing its front splitter in the process. Kane then had to make a pit stop for a tyre change and rejoined a lap down, while Harvey dropped to the tail of the field. Up front, Sutton finally squeezed clear of Barnes on the exit of Druids to take the lead as Michael Caine (Team Parker Racing) and Oliver Turvey (Porsche Motorsport) took third and fourth. That was how the leading quartet stayed, but the lead gap was seldom more than a second as Barnes gave a dogged chase of Sutton. “I thought I’d got a bit of a break and then he caught me again,” said Sutton. “The first lap after the safety car went in my car was all over the place,” said Barnes after an early caution period when Maxi Jazz (Red Line Racing) spun into the gravel at Paddock. “But over the last third of the race it was really good,” he added, after the gap came down again in the final laps. Caine was only a second adrift in third, but had Turvey as a constant shadow. “It’s tough, but I was pleased to go with the guys at the front,” said Turvey after an impressive weekend. “I’d love to come back!” Through from the back of the grid into a fine fifth came Sam Hancock (Motorbase Performance) and he was closing on the cars ahead in the second half of the race. But before he got to fifth, he had to battle ahead of the pro-am leaders, Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance) and Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing). “If I’d been able to get through to fifth sooner, I think I could have tagged on to the guys in front,” said Hancock. The battle for pro-am was an absorbing contest as Britnell drove a mighty race to soak up relentless pressure from Rice to score his second pro-am win of the weekend. “That was a great race,” said Britnell. “Nigel’s a formidable competitor and it was really good to do it here in front of a lot of guests.” Rice was right on Britnell’s tail at the flag and also had to contend with the recovering Harvey. But having battled ahead of Rice at Paddock, Harvey slid wide at Druids and lost the place back again as he battled with major understeer, the legacy of losing the front splitter on the opening lap. Pete Osborne (Team O) claimed the third podium place in pro-am, but was under pressure at the flag from Charles Bateman (Team Parker Racing), who had driven well from the back of the grid. Kane was classified 12th and saw what started the weekend as a 28-point championship lead over Sutton reduced to just four points.