Tim Harvey topped the field in qualifying for the opening two rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton yesterday. The RPM Motorsport driver claimed pole position by a tenth of a second from Richard Westbrook (BEAST Racing) as only half a second covered the top four drivers.

Behind Harvey and Westbrook, Jason Templeman (Team VLR) and Jonathan Fildes (TCR) were right on the pace, pointing to a tremendously competitive race to start the season.

“A perfect lap would have been in the 16s,” reckoned Harvey after lapping in 1m17.102s. “I’m very pleased with that; it’s a good start for the team and the sponsors,” he added. On the last lap of the session, Westbrook grabbed second slot on the grid, but was confident that he could have been on pole. “That was a P1 lap, but Tim made life very hard for me,” said Westbrook. “I had to back off at Noble,” he added, having caught Harvey on the track.

Templeman was edged off the front row of the grid as Westbrook took the chequered flag, but was pleased to be close to the leading pace. “I think we’ve got a bit more time left; it will be a good race,” he promised. Fildes, meanwhile, made a fine start to his Porsche racing, lapping in a comfortable fourth place. “The car is grand, it’s just me getting used to it.”

Jonathon Cocker made a strong return to the Carrera Cup by posting fifth best time for Red Line Racing, just edging his team mate Nigel Rice in the closing minutes of the session. Team Parker Racing took seventh and eighth places with Chris Cooper and Mark Hazell, with Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance) ninth fastest and David Pinkney (BEAST Racing) tenth, despite losing some of the session when a power steering pipe came loose.

Leading times:

1 Tim Harvey (RPM Motorsport)             1m17.102s

2 Richard Westbrook (BEAST Racing)          1m17.218s

3 Jason Templeman (Team VLR)             1m17.429s

4 Jonathan Fildes (TCR)                      1m17.608s

5 Jonathon Cocker (Red Line Racing)          1m18.276s

6 Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing)                   1m18.392s

7 Chris Cooper (Team Parker Racing)          1m18.478s

8 Mark Hazell (Team Parker Racing)          1m18.639s

9 Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance)          1m18.819s

10 David Pinkney (BEAST Racing)                   1m18.943s