Tim Harvey headed the testing times ahead of rounds three and four of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch today (Friday, 23 April). The RPM Motorsport driver lapped nearly three-tenths of a second faster than his rivals as less than a second split the top 11 cars.

“The car felt fine; we didn’t make any changes,” said Harvey after lapping in 48.195s once an early electrical problem had been resolved. “A 47s lap has to be on tomorrow in qualifying with new tyres. It is vital to be at the front in qualifying around the Indy circuit,” he added.

Jonathan Fildes (TCR) maintained his excellent start to racing in the Carrera Cup by posting second fastest time. “I’ve been a bit up and down here in the past,” admitted the Irishman. “But I really need to qualify in the top three.” Jason Templeman (Team VLR) was third fastest, a fraction ahead of Richard Westbrook (BEAST Racing). Having completed the London Marathon a week earlier, Westbrook was enjoying being back at one of his favourite tracks. “I just love the Indy circuit,” he said, despite running most of the two-hour test session without a clutch.

A fine fifth, on his debut run in a 911 GT3 Cup car was VIP racer Perry McCarthy. “It’s great to be here, I’m really enjoying the whole thing,” said Perry. “It’s going exactly to plan so far, and we’ll have a go for qualifying tomorrow!” Chris Cooper (Team Parker Racing) set the early pace, but later had a spin into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend, and dropped to sixth by the end of the test session.

Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing), Mark Hazell (Team Parker Racing), Des Winks (Red Line Racing) and Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance) completed the top 10 times. However, further back was David Pinkney (BEAST Racing) who ran strongly in the top four times until hit by a transmission problem.

Leading times:

1 Tim Harvey (RPM Motorsport)             48.195s

2 Jonathan Fildes (TCR)                      48.486s

3 Jason Templeman (Team VLR)             48.555s

4 Richard Westbrook (BEAST Racing)          48.594s

5 Perry McCarthy (Porsche Cars GB)          48.679s

6 Chris Cooper (Team Parker Racing)          48.746s

7 Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing)                   48.846s8 Mark Hazell (Team Parker Racing)          48.862s

9 Des Winks (Red Line Racing)                   48.928s

10 Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance)          49.002s