Cars That Go Fast: TIM HARVEY DOES THE PORSCHE CARRERA CUP DOUBLE AT ROCKINGHAM TIM HARVEY DOES THE PORSCHE CARRERA CUP DOUBLE AT ROCKINGHAM ================================================================================ Elton on 27 April, 2010 12:58:00 Tim Harvey made it four race wins on the trot in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham over the weekend (24/25 April) in rounds three and four of the championship contested by identical 420hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars. Harvey led from the start of both races and fended off the challenge of Michael Caine to extend his lead in the UK’s fastest single marque racing championship. Ollie Jackson (Attleborough) scored an emphatic double win in Pro-Am1 from Tony Gilham (Dartford), while Mark Hazell (Gwent) and Glenn McMenamin (Milton Keynes) shared the spoils in Pro-Am2. Round three Harvey(Oxford) converted his pole position into an opening lap lead and with Caine (Newmarket) on his tail they quickly started to edge clear of Euan Hankey (Taunton) who battled through to third in the opening laps. As ever, Harvey and Caine were very evenly matched and the gap was seldom more than a second.Harveyhad the better pace initially, but Caine came back strongly mid-race and was close enough to run side-by-side with his rival into Deane Hairpin on lap 10. But Harvey stayed ahead and dealt with a late Safety Car period to win by just over half a second. “I pushed quite hard early on,” said Harvey. “But then I had to have a word with myself to tidy it up. Three wins on the trot is the best start to a season I’ve ever had in Carrera Cup.” Caine felt that he had the pace to win, but the Safety Car didn’t help his plans. “I think our car was better today, but there wasn’t much in it,” he said. Hankey ran a secure third to score a hat-trick of podiums, while Jackson drove a fine race to take fourth and win Pro-Am1. For much of the race, Jacksonwas under pressure from Tom Bradshaw (Blackburn), but a rear puncture later sent Bradshaw into a brush with the wall at Turn One and the Safety Car was sent out while his stricken car was moved. “Hankey got the break on me early on, so I was just sitting there looking after my tyres,” said Jackson after a nicely measured drive. Under the Safety Car, Gilham was able to close up toJackson, but it also brought Glynn Geddie (Aberdeen) up to Gilham’s tail and at the re-start Geddie dived briefly ahead. “Geddie got a run on me and that cost me the chance to go after Jackson,” said Gilham. Jonas Gelzinis (Lithuania) completed the Pro-Am1 podium, with Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman) in fourth. Until the final lap of the race, McMenamin led Pro-Am2 with a tremendous drive, having gone well clear of Hazell and Steve Parish (London). However, the safety car closed the gap right up and allowed Parish to attack the leader into Deene for the final time. “I was putting pressure on him and he outbraked himself,” said Parish, who nipped through as McMenamin spun. Though Parish took the flag, he was later penalised two seconds for passing Hazell under a yellow flag and so it was Hazell who was confirmed as the Pro-Am2 winner from Parish and George Brewster (Aberdeen) as a very frustrated McMenamin finally finished seventh. Round Four “That’s the best start I’ve ever had to a Carrera Cup season; we’ve all worked very hard for that and the guys in the Red Line team have done a great job,” said Harvey, after extending his series lead to 12 points with another victory in round four.Harveyled the field into the first corner and, despite the race-long presence of Caine, was able to control the race from the front to complete a clean sweep of victories. Caine never quite felt he could challenge the leader as strongly as he had done in Saturday’s race. “I struggled with the front of the car; we had a better car yesterday than we did today,” said Caine. “There was a big scramble into the hairpin on the first lap and early on I had to defend from Glynn Geddie.” The first lap scramble included a big attack from Hankey who tried a bold move around the outside but spun. He rejoined at the tail of the field but further around the lap had to spin to avoid a Pro-Am2 tangle and ended his race in the gravel. Up front, Harvey and Caine edged clear as Geddie headed his team mate Stephen Jelley (Leicester) and Jackson. That was how they finished as Geddie and Jelley scored their best results of the season to date and signaled their intention to challenge Harvey and Caine over the coming races. Jacksonwas elated to take his third Pro-Am1 victory from four races with another faultless performance, while Charlie Bateman (Boston) battled through to sixth to finish the weekend on a high note. Seventh, having started at the back of the grid, was Gilham who drove a superb race. “I had a few close shaves on the opening lap, but I had to go for it,” said Gilham. Despite a mid-race spin, Gelzinis bagged another podium finish with third in Pro-Am1 from Al Harthy. McMenamin took Pro-Am2 victory after a nicely measured drive, having chased Parish in the early laps. “I knew I had the pace today, but I didn’t attack him too early,” said McMenamin. However, when letting Gilham through, Parish made a mistake at Deene and McMenamin seized his chance to take the Pro-Am2 lead. “I’m relieved to be back up there,” said McMenamin of his return to the top step of the podium. Third in Pro-Am2 was the best result of the season to date for George Richardson (Alderley Edge).