Michael Caine won a dramatic round 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill (Sunday 5 September) to narrow the gap to championship leader Tim Harvey to 27 points with four races to run.
Harvey rescued a potentially disastrous non-finish to claim fourth place after a trip through the gravel and into the tyre wall. In pro-am1, Tony Gilham completed a tremendous weekend double and guest racer Rory Butcher also wrapped up a second win in pro-am2 as George Brewster took maximum points.
There was action from the start when a multi-car tangle at Duffus Dip on the first lap delayed Stephen Jelley and sent Karl Leonard, Liam Griffin, Jonas Gelzinis and Tautvydas Barstys to the pits. Although none of the cars were left at Duffus, there was coolant dropped on the track and that was to provide more drama when the leading pack arrived on lap two. Caine (Motorbase Performance) scrambled through but Harvey slid wide at the following Scotsman Corner and ran across the gravel and nudged the tyre wall. He then scrabbled out of the gravel trap and bounced over the grass before rejoining, but lost his front splitter in the process. Meanwhile, Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) followed Harvey through the gravel and the safety car was sent out to allow the marshals to treat the slippery track.
From the restart, Caine swept ahead as Charlie Bateman (Motorbase Performance) ran second from Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing). While Caine pulled away to score a resounding win, Bateman and Hankey battled all the way to flag and Hankey took second after making the decisive move into Clark on the 13th lap. "I just got my head down after the safety car and looked after the car," said Caine. "That was one for the team and a good birthday present for my mum," he said.
Hankey was delighted to be back on the overall podium after a strong race, while Bateman earned the 'driver of the weekend' award for his fighting third place. "It was a great result and I think I had the pace to beat him. But I made a small mistake and he got through," said Bateman. Remarkably, Harvey claimed fourth after running with team mate Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing) on his tail. "It's not often you go through the gravel, hit the wall, loose the splitter and flat spot the tyres and still finish fourth," said Harvey after a vital recovery drive in title terms.
Into a great sixth overall and first in pro-am2 went Butcher (Celtic Speed), who had Geddie in pursuit over the closing laps. "It shows that Celtic run a great car," said Butcher after a superb weekend, which earned Celtic Speed the 'team of the weekend' award. Into eighth, after a tough race with Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) went Gilham to win pro-am1 for the second time in the day. "I struggled after the re-start to get the tyres working, but it's been a great weekend," said Gilham.
Top scorer in pro-am2 was Brewster (Celtic Speed) after a fine race, having had George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) as a constant shadow over the first half of the race. "That might be a defining moment in the championship," said Brewster after points' leader Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) retired with a water leak after an early knock.
