Michael Caine stormed to the top of the time sheets in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during testing at Brands Hatch today (Friday 1 May) ahead of rounds five and six of the championship. Tony Gilham (Collins ReDesign Racing) headed pro-am1, while Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase) topped pro-am2.
Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) set the best time in the first session with a single-lap charge on new tyres as the session resumed for a final three minutes after a red flag. Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance) went off into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend and just one flying lap was possible in the closing moments.
However, as the weather held dry for the second session, the leading times tumbled as most of the front-runners ran on new tyres. It was Caine (Motorbase Performance) who set the standard with an excellent best lap of1m28.801s around the challenging Grand Prix circuit. "We were just struggling a bit for balance in the car, but we put the new tyres on and it felt a lot better," said Caine.
Team Parker Racing locked out the next three places on the time sheets as Euan Hankey, Geddie and Stephen Jelley were covered by just three-tenths of a second by the end of the afternoon. Right behind Jelley in an impressive fifth fastest overall and top of pro-am1 was Gilham, who ran new tyres to good effect in the later session. "We were consistently in the 1m29s and I feel there was bit more there," said Gilham, who ended the day with a useful nine-tenths of a second margin over his pro-am1 rivals.
Tom Bradshaw (JHR) was well in contention in sixth place, after a strong day in his rebuilt car when, after a shakedown run in the first session, he joined the sub-1m30s pack later in the day. Meanwhile, championship leader Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing) was down in seventh place, but that was not indicative of his pace as Harvey elected not to run new tyres and did his laps on race tyres from Rockingham. Relaxed and confident, Harvey reckoned that the time gained from new tyres should put him firmly in the hunt for pole position in Saturday's qualifying session.
Bateman and Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing) were competitive eighth and ninth fastest while Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) was tenth overall and second in pro-am1 on his first visit to Brands Hatch. "I like this circuit more than Rockingham," said the Lithuanian after his first laps of the Kent track. Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase), Brands GP newcomer Archie Hamilton (Red Line Racing) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing) were next before Liam Griffin, who was running very well for Addison Lee Motorbase.
The pro-am2 field is shaping up for another fine contest with just seven-tenths of a second covering the top four as Parish headed Mark Hazell (JHR), Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) and George Richardson (Motorbase Performance).
