Michael Caine scored a commanding win in round eleven of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton (Sunday 8 August). Starting from pole position, Caine charged ahead from the start and was able to out-run title leader Tim Harvey to score his second win of the season.
Ollie Jackson led pro-am1 until the final corner when an attack by Tony Gilham sent Jackson spinning. However, after the race a time penalty was applied to Gilham to reverse the finishing order and put Jackson back to the top of pro-am1. In some great battling down the field, Glenn McMenamin emerged to win pro-am2 from Paul Mace and George Richardson.
"I got a cracking start," said Caine (Motorbase Performance). "I've not always started well this season, but I did one when it counted. The car from Motorbase was superb," he said after steadily easing away from Harvey (Red Line Racing) to score an emphatic victory. "I owed it to everyone to start the second half of the season with a win," added Caine.
Harvey always chased, but accepted that Caine had the better pace. "We set the car to come in a bit later in the race and I pushed to get the point for fastest lap," said Harvey after narrowing the gap mid-race. "Michael was very quick, so second place with fastest lap is only a one-point loss in championship terms."
A strong third throughout was Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing) and in the middle of the race he was able to match the pace of Caine and Harvey. "Then I flat spotted a front tyre going into the Esses and had to settle for third," said Jelley. Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) ran a strong but solitary fourth as Euan Hankey (Red Line Racing) fended off Charles Bateman (Motorbase Performance) in a race long battle for fifth.
Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) ran as high as fourth overall in the early laps before losing a couple of places to the pro drivers. His initial pro-am1 rival Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) went out after hitting Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing) at Russell. That moment cost Meadows the chance of fourth place and put Gelzinis out with a damaged radiator.
Meanwhile, Jackson headed pro-am1 but in the final laps Gilham (Collins ReDesign Racing) closed the gap and when Jackson was held up by a backmarker Gilham moved even closer heading into the final lap. "I was managing the gap and then a backmarker at Coram cost me a lot of time," said Jackson. Into Russell for the final time, Gilham dived for the inside and the cars made contact, with Jackson spinning as Gilham's car flicked up onto two wheels. Though Gilham got to the line before Jackson, the positions were later reversed when Gilham was award a time penalty.
McMenamin (Red Line Racing) drove a fine race to claim pro-am2 victory, despite considerable pressure from Mace (GT Marques), Richardson (Motorbase Performance) and George Brewster (Celtic Speed). A moment for Michael Leonard (Team Parker Racing) cost Richardson time and allowed McMenamin to build a decisive margin. "It was hard work leading from the front and I was just doing enough to keep ahead," said McMenamin. Richardson, having run second for many laps, was edged back to third in the closing stages by Mace, as Mace recovered from a poor start.
