Tim Harvey completed a superb double in round two of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton today (Sunday 4 April), but the victory came under constant pressure from championship newcomer Euan Hankey. Ollie Jackson claimed pro-am1 spoils, while Mark Hazell wrapped up a great weekend by winning pro-am2 for the second time.
After 21 laps of the high-speed Hampshire track, at an average speed of almost 110mph, each of the three categories was decided by less than three-quarters of a second.
"If that's the pace that Euan has at this stage of the season, it's going to be hard work," said Harvey (Red Line Racing) after a fiercely competitive race. With Hankey (Team Parker Racing) as a constant shadow and Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) going with them, the lead was always in doubt even though Harvey led from lights to flag. "Euan was all over me and kept me honest," said Harvey.
For his part, Hankey was elated to run so strongly on his debut weekend in the Carrera Cup. "I was pushing my hardest and I'm still learning," said the Carrera Cup Scholarship driver. He also had to contend with muscle pump-up in his right arm over the closing laps and concentrated on keeping ahead of Caine. Having watched Hankey's race from close quarters, Caine joined Harvey in congratulating the championship newcomer. Hankey was declared 'driver of the weekend' for his performances.
Tom Bradshaw (JHR) completed a strong weekend with fourth place, despite early pressure from Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) and Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing). "Our pace was not spot on in the dry, but that's two solid results at my least favourite circuit," said Bradshaw. Geddie claimed fifth, but Meadows dropped to seventh behind Charles Bateman (Motorbase Performance) after losing his front splitter later in the race.
The pro-am1 category once again delivered a great contest as Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) led from the start and battled with Bateman for overall position. However, in the closing stages Jackson was nearly caught by Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing), who had been battling race-long. At the flag, less than a second covered the three cars. "That was really tough," said Jackson. Gelzinis' team of Juta Racing won the 'team of the weekend' award for it's first weekend in the Carrera Cup GB.
The battle in pro-am2 was another highlight of the race as Hazell (JHR) worked clear of Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase). However, in the closing laps, Parish closed the gap once more as George Brewster (Celtic Speed) and Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) made it a four-car train for the lead. At the flag, just 1.7s covered the quartet. "It's been good fun but very hard work," said Hazell after one of his best weekends of racing for several seasons.
