Richard Westbrook and Tim Harvey shared the wins during an action-packed pair of races for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Mondello Park over the weekend (12/13 June). The net result in championship terms is that Westbrook reduced Harvey’s lead by just one point to 17 as the championship reached the halfway stage.QualifyingWestbrook turned in a superb performance to head the times in qualifying on Saturday. With the fastest lap ever completed by a Porsche at the Irish track, Westbrook took pole for Red Line Racing from Damien Faulkner (Motorbase Performance). “That was textbook,” said an elated Westbrook.
Right from the start of a thrilling qualifying session it was a contest between Westbrook and Faulkner for pole. Westbrook initially took pole in 1m44.241s, but Faulkner then edged ahead by just 0.004s. After a pit-stop for tyres, Westbrook snatched pole back by only 0.008s before going even faster on the penultimate lap of the session to clinch pole in 1m43.930s. “I knew we had a good car and I knew the time was there,” said Westbrook. “The car is just excellent!”
Faulkner was not able to retaliate on his fresh tyres as a slow puncture in a rear tyre developed on his out lap. “I knew there was something wrong straightaway. We just couldn’t reply with that,” he explained. However, Faulkner will still share the front row of the grid with Westbrook.Only a tiny fraction of a second behind Faulkner was Harvey (Team RPM). “There’s nothing between any of us round here,” reckoned Tim. Fourth was an excellent qualifying performance for local ace Jonathan Fildes (TCR), while completing the top five, and lapping within a second of Westbrook was Jason Templeman (Team VLR).Race oneIn an action-packed opening race on Sunday morning, Westbrook finished just half a second ahead of Harvey as Templeman completed the podium. However, terrible luck cost Fildes a podium finish at his home track when he picked up a puncture.
The action started before the first corner after Faulkner slowed with a clutch problem. As the chasing pack went either side of the SAS International car, Robby Coleman (Porsche Cars GB) was unsighted and hit the back of Faulkner’s car. As Faulkner’s car spun, his team mate Andy Britnell could not avoid contact and all three cars were out on the spot. “The cars parted and there he was,” said Coleman.
After two laps behind the safety car, Westbrook resumed in the lead with Fildes on his tail as Harvey battled to fend off Templeman for third. However, Templeman was in trouble when a puncture developed on lap six and he struggled back to the pits for a wheel change. “I was comfortable in there and I had a bit in reserve,” said Fildes.
Bit by bit, Harvey edged away from Templeman and closed the gap to Westbrook. However, Harvey was struggling with a broken exhaust. “It wouldn’t pull out of the slower corners,” explained Tim, despite closing to within half a second of Westbrook at the flag. “I just judged it to win the race; we know we’ve got the pace here,” reckoned Westbrook.
Templeman battled to third despite finding his car’s handling going away as the temperature rose, while Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing) and Martin Rich (Team Parker Racing) ran close for fourth and fifth. “I had a big moment when someone had run wide and thrown gravel on the track, and Martin got close,” explained Rice. Jason Young (Red Line Racing) and Gary Britnell (Motorbase Performance) were next up as Fildes resumed to finish ninth behind Michael Corridan (Team Parker Racing).Provisional results – race one (12 laps):1 Richard Westbrook (Red Line Racing) 23m20.666s; 2 Tim Harvey (Team RPM) 23m21.248s; 3 Jason Templeman (Team VLR) 23m27.633s; 4 Nigel Rice (Red Line Racing) 23m31.394s; 5 Martin Rich (Team Parker Racing) 23m32.377s; 6 Jason Young (Red Line Racing) 23m50.796s; 7 Gary Britnell (Motorbase Performance) 24m08.162s; 8 Michael Corridan (Team Parker Racing) 11 laps; 9 Jonathan Fildes (TCR) 11 laps. Fastest lap: Harvey 1m45.490s (74.28mph) new lap record.Race twoIn an absorbing battle for the second race, Westbrook saved his biggest attack for the last lap and was twice alongside Harvey before Tim got the flag just a tenth of a second ahead.
It all went wrong for Westbrook at the start when a bad start left him third behind Harvey and Rice. “I made a fantastic start and that was the key to the race,” said Harvey. “I got a shocker of a start,” admitted Westbrook, who quickly moved ahead of his team mate to slot into second.Now Westbrook set off after Harvey and gradually reduced the gap. It all came down to the last lap as Westbrook mounted his major attack. However, Harvey defended beautifully and Westbrook had to go the long way round. Despite twice drawing level, Harvey always had the line and won by a fraction of a second.
“It made for a great race,” said Harvey. “Richard was very fair!” Westbrook had also enjoyed the contest with his title rival. “It was a really good race, but I could have done with another lap!”Rice ran strongly in third as Templeman challenged. On the sixth lap, Templeman attacked once more and the cars touched. While Rice spun, Fildes nipped through to third. However, at the next corner Templeman challenged to try and get third back and Fildes was sent spinning into the gravel after contact.
Despite now having a rather battered car, Templeman finished third on the road from Rice. However, Templeman was later excluded from the results, which put Rice back into third place. Up into fourth after an excellent race came Coleman in the VIP car. “I just picked them off one by one. I wasn’t going to take any risks after the guys worked so hard to fix the car after the first race,” said the Irish racer.
Andy Britnell battled ahead of his brother Gary as Motorbase Performance claimed fifth and sixth, which was reward for the team after a mammoth effort to repair Faulkner’s car after the first race just ran out of time. Young, Rich and Marcus Thomas (Team VLR) completed the next group, as Corridan took tenth.Provisional results – race two (10 laps):1 Harvey 17m48.494s; 2 Westbrook 17m48.620s; 3 Rice 18m12.622s; 4 Robby Coleman (Porsche Cars GB) 18m15.425s; 5 Andy Britnell (Motorbase Performance) 18m18.742s; 6 Gary Britnell 18m22.722s; 7 Young 18m23.212s; 8 Rich 18m23.977s; 9 Marcus Thomas (Team VLR) 18m35.521s; 10 Corridan 19m37.830s. Fastest lap: Westbrook 1m45.921s (73.97mph).Provisional championship points after round ten:1 Harvey 183; 2 Westbrook 166; 3 Templeman 135; 4 Fildes 121; 5 Rice 115; 6 Andy Britnell 90; 7 Chris Cooper 86; 8 Young 80; 9 Rich 62; 10 Gary Britnell 58; etc.
