Stephen Jelley was the pacesetter ahead of rounds 15 and 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during testing at Knockhill today (Friday 3 September). In an incredibly close set of times, the top four cars were covered by seven-hundredths of a second, while the fastest 12 cars were all within one second.
As Jelley (Team Parker Racing) topped the times, Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) was a superb third fastest overall to head the pro-am1 category and Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) set the pro-am2 pace in a fine 12th place overall. The Knockhill weather, which can so often be troublesome, was perfect with zero wind and an ambient temperature of 20 degrees, while the track temperature was up at 35 degrees when the afternoon test session started.
Though he narrowly topped the times, Jelley felt he could have gone a little faster on his new tyres. "I out-braked myself on my best lap and so I think I've got a couple of tenths in my pocket. We'll see," he said. Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing) was fastest in the morning session and ended the day second, despite not using new tyres. "I'm very happy with that," said the championship leader. "We did a bit of a race run this afternoon and we're looking very good," said a confident Harvey.
Sharing the same time to be third and fourth were Gelzinis and Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing). Gelzinis was even higher up the order than usual, having for once not had to learn the track during Friday's testing. "I had one more day to learn the circuit," he said, after running at Knockhill on Wednesday along with most of the leading drivers. "It's quite a tricky circuit and you have to be brave in some corners," said the Lithuanian racer.
Meadows continued his strong form of the second half of the season to match the time of Gelzinis, with Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) fifth fastest before the second of the pro-am1 drivers. Sixth overall, on his first experience of Knockhill, was Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing) with an excellent day's work. "I'm really delighted with that," said the Oman racer. "We know we have the pace to do it and we can build on that for tomorrow," he said after making it three Red Line Racing cars in the top six overall.
Euan Hankey and Glynn Geddie were next up for Team Parker Racing, before Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance), while third and fourth in pro-am1 were Addison Lee Motorbase duo Ollie Jackson and Liam Griffin.
McMenamin just edged locals George Brewster and Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) to top the pro-am2 times. "It eventually came," said McMenamin of his best time. "It's all about commitment here and I was just pushing and pushing," said McMenamin.
