Michael Caine ended the day on top of the time sheets in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB after testing at Rockingham today (Friday 23 April) ahead of rounds three and four of the championship. Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) headed pro-am1, while Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) topped pro-am2.
A fabulous 27-car field lined up at the Corby venue, matching the record grid to date for the championship. Caine (Motorbase Performance) set the best lap of the day during the morning session as the teams acclimatised to a revised compound of Michelin slick tyre.
"It's a good start to the weekend for the team," said Caine. "But I thought there was more time to come from everybody." Second fastest was Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing), who ran strongly at the scene of his two BTCC victories in 2009. "We're up where we should be, so I'm happy with that," said Jelley. Third fastest was Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing), who spent much of the day working on set-up to match the new tyre compound. "We were just tyre testing in the afternoon session," reported Harvey.
Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing), Tom Bradshaw (JHR) and Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) packed out the top six, and all were confident of increasing their pace in qualifying. Bradshaw was on a better lap when a red flag interrupted his run. "The sectors were good so we know we're on the pace," said Bradshaw.
Seventh fastest overall and top of pro-am1 was Jackson, but his major rival Tony Gilham (Collins Redesign Racing) was only a tenth of a second slower, with pro category racer Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing) splitting them on the final testing times. "I'm pleased with the overall position," said Jackson, who had been as high as fourth overall after the opening session.
Third in pro-am1, with another strong performance as he learned the circuit in the two 40-minute sessions, was Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing), while Archie Hamilton and Ahmad Al Harthy were fourth and fifth for Red Line Racing.
In pro-am2, Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) set the pace with an impressive 15th place overall on his second race weekend at Rockingham. His excellent pace left him nine-tenths of a second ahead of double Thruxton winner Mark Hazell (JHR), with Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase), George Richardson (Motorbase Performance), George Brewster (Celtic Speed) and Richard Denny (Parr Motorsport) all close on time for what promises to be another fine pro-am2 contest.
