Richard Westbrook and Tim Harvey scored race victories as the Carrera Cup GB opened with some superb racing at Thruxton today (Sunday 11 April). Meanwhile, Jason Templeman, Jonathan Fildes, Chris Cooper and Nigel Rice all claimed podium finishes as the season got off to an excellent start.
Qualifying
Harvey topped the field in qualifying on Saturday (10 April). The RPM Motorsport driver claimed pole position by a tenth of a second from Westbrook (BEAST Racing) as only half a second covered the top four drivers.
Behind Harvey and Westbrook, Templeman (Team VLR) and 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.
Race one
Westbrook claimed the first victory of the season in the opening round of the Carrera Cup GB. Westbrook (BEAST Racing) fended off the challenge of Templeman to score a resounding victory as Fildes completed the podium.
“I can’t quite believe it, actually,” reckoned Westbrook. “I hope it’s like that all the way through the season, but I doubt it,” he said.
While Westbrook got the jump on the opening lap and Templeman chased, things were far from right for Harvey. Battling against a broken damper, Harvey was powerless to hold third and soon had a gaggle of cars snapping at his heels. First to go through was Fildes, soon to be followed by Cooper (Team Parker Racing).
With Templeman still chasing hard, Westbrook saw his advantage reduced mid-race, but the leader had enough in hand to extend his lead again over the closing stages to score a classy victory.
Templeman accepted that second was a strong start to his season. “It was a pretty simple race, I couldn’t quite pull him in,” he admitted. Fildes, too, was pleased to get his season off to a strong start having fended off the ever-present Cooper in a race-long battle for third. “The main thing was to get a good finish,” said Fildes.
Harvey managed to salvage fifth, but had the Red Line Racing duo of Nigel Rice and Jonathon Cocker always in his mirrors, while Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance) was never far behind. Out of luck in a first lap tangle, however, were Des Winks (Red Line Racing) and David Pinkney (BEAST Racing).
Provisional results – race one (14 laps):
1 Richard Westbrook (BEAST Racing) 18m23.473s; 2 Jason Templeman (Team VLR) 18m25.335s; 3 Jonathan Fildes (TCR) 18m31.750s; 4 Chris Cooper (Team Parker Racing) 18m32.422s; 5 Tim Harvey (RPM Motorsport) 18m42.845s; 6 Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing) 18m43.664s; 7 Jonathon Cocker (Red Line Racing) 18m45.017s; 8 Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance) 18m49.829s; 9 Matthew Marsh (Porsche Cars GB) 19m01.472s; 10 Jason Young (Red Line Racing) 19m02.081s. Fastest lap: Westbrook 1m17.244s (109.80mph) record.
Race two
Tim Harvey scored a fine victory in the second race. In a thrilling contest, Harvey fended off Cooper and Rice during a race full of action and close racing.
“I had a mega start and there was no way they were going to beat me once I was in front,” said Harvey. Meanwhile, first race winner Westbrook dropped to fifth after a gearbox problem and Templeman went out on the second lap with a clutch problem when leading.
Templeman had made a storming start, but his lead was short-lived when a problem with the clutch set in on lap two and forced him to retire to the pits. That put Harvey into the lead from fifth on the grid, with Cooper, Rice and Westbrook in his tail.
The leading quartet made a superb spectacle, running virtually nose-to-tail, while Fildes tigered his way to the front of the next pack of four cars.
Cooper, on his Porsche debut, was driving superbly and kept the pressure on Harvey as Westbrook tried to find a way through Rice’s defences. Into the chicane for the seventh time, Cooper made a huge effort and ran side by side with Harvey into the corner. But Harvey held the inside line and was able to start easing away when Cooper lost the splitter from the front of his car after clattering the kerbs.
“I just love driving these cars,” said Harvey on the top step of the podium, while Cooper was equally delighted with second. “Fantastic! It’s all down to Team Parker Racing,” he said. Meanwhile, Rice had an easier time in the closing stages as Fildes moved through to attack Westbrook. With Westbrook hampered by the loss of second gear, Fildes was able to grab fourth.
Matthew Marsh drove a fighting race to take sixth in the VIP entry from Porsche Cars GB, while Andy Britnell just beat Cocker and Pinkney for seventh after another mighty battle.
Provisional results – race two (14 laps):
1 Tim Harvey (RPM Motorsport) 18m30.073s; 2 Chris Cooper (Team Parker Racing) 18m31.662s; 3 Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing) 18m32.702s; 4 Jonathan Fildes (TCR) 18m33.289s; 5 Richard Westbrook (BEAST Racing) 18m38.612s; 6 Matthew Marsh (Porsche Cars GB) 18m39.235s; 7 Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance) 18m40.015s; 8 Jonathon Cocker (Red Line Racing) 18m40.594s; 9 David Pinkney (BEAST Racing) 18m41.177s; 10 Mark Hazell (Team Parker Racing) 19m04.836s.
Provisional championship points:
1 Westbrook 34; 2 Harvey and Cooper 33; 4 Fildes 30; 5 Rice 26; 6 Templeman, Andy Britnell and Cocker 18; etc.
