Bridgman and Sutton share Carrera Cup wins at Croft

Porsche Carrera Cup GB

Tim Bridgman and James Sutton each took a race win during rounds nine and ten of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Croft (North Yorkshire) over the weekend (13/14 June). Meanwhile, local ace Robert Lawson bagged a double win in the Pro-Am1 category and series newcomer George Brewster took an impressive double win in Pro-Am2.

Round nine

Bridgman (Stansted) headed the pack into the first corner from pole position, but further back there was drama as the closely-packed field stormed into the tight right-hander at Clervaux. Glynn Geddie (Aberdeen) lost out the most and limped to the pits to retire with damage to the rear of the car. Tony Gilham (Dartford) and Derek Pierce (West Kilbride) made contact and spun into the infield, while Paul Hogarth (Knutsford) was also badly delayed.

There was no such trouble up front as Bridgman headed Michael Caine (Newmarket), Sutton (Barnet), Tim Harvey (Oxford) and Tom Bradshaw (Blackburn). This quintet quickly established itself at the front of the race and Bridgman started to edge clear as Sutton dived ahead of Caine, with Harvey on their tail and Bradshaw, in one of his best races to date, going after them.

“I just kept pushing the whole race through,” said Bridgman, who steadily extended his lead to score his third win on the run and take the championship lead from Harvey. “It’s an important result for me, to carry on from Oulton Park. We’re just focused on winning races.”

In Bridgman’s wake, Sutton, Caine and Harvey spent much of the race running nose-to-tail, but the cars were so evenly matched that the places did not change. “Tim just had a little edge on us,” said Sutton, who was suffering badly with hay fever. “I was struggling with the rear tyre grip as the race wore on, so had to concentrate on Tim behind me rather than James in front,” reported Caine.

Bradshaw chased them home to take fifth, while Lawson (Richmond) had to race hard in the early laps to fend off Ollie Jackson (Ely) in the battle for Pro-Am1 victory. “Glynn Geddie had a moment at the first corner and handed the lead of Pro-Am1 to me,” said Lawson. “Then I just had to look after my tyres,” said the local racer after his fifth Pro-Am1 win.

Jackson pushed hard, but over-worked his tyres by mid-distance and soon came under great pressure from Lewis Hopkins (Basingstoke). In his best Carrera Cup race to date, Hopkins later battled ahead of Jackson to take seventh place, while Jackson still bagged second in Pro-Am1 with the recovering Gilham fighting back to third.

The Pro-Am2 contest was also affected by the first corner incidents and that helped Brewster (Edinburgh) take a decisive lead to win the category and make it six Pro-Am2 winners in nine races. “That’s fantastic; I felt a bit under pressure, but I made a good start,” said Brewster. Hogarth recovered to take second in Pro-Am2 with Bob Lyons (Aberdeen) completing the podium.

After the race, Bradshaw and Gilham were penalised two penalty points on their race licences and two championship points following the first corner incidents.

Round ten

Although the cars initially went to the grid on slicks, the rain arrived in time for everyone to switch to wets for a shortened 12-lap race. Poleman Bridgman had the task of setting the pace on the opening lap and soon found the water running across the track at Tower. He slid wide as Sutton and Caine dived ahead. Bridgman then had more drama at Sunny when he slid wide again and was down in eighth by the end of the opening lap. Sutton now led with Caine as a major threat, while Harvey and Geddie took third and fourth. However, Geddie’s frustrating weekend continued when a marker cone flicked up and damaged his car’s radiator, forcing him into the pits.

Caine chased Sutton until the decisive moment came on lap seven when Caine spun on the exit of the Esses. “I couldn’t see through the spray and I just touched the white line,” said Caine of the incident. Harvey briefly nipped into second, but Caine was quickly back ahead and chasing after Sutton once more. Though the gap came down, it was too big for Caine to catch Sutton in the laps available.

Sutton, meanwhile, was battling the conditions at the head of the race. “You’d come round one lap and it was fantastic, but on the next lap you were aquaplaning,” he said. Despite the conditions, Sutton claimed a fine victory; his second of the season. “I was pushed all the way by Michael, even after his moment,” said the race winner.

Caine clinched second from Harvey, knowing that his team had got the car set-up extremely well for the conditions. Behind Harvey, Lawson drove a fine race to complete a Pro-Am1 double on his home track. “I couldn’t see anything! There was standing water at Tower,” said Lawson after a performance that clinched the ‘Driver of the Weekend’ award.

Bridgman clawed his way back to fifth to retain a slender overall championship lead, while Jackson had another strong run to take sixth overall and second in Pro-Am1. Motorbase Performance was announced as ‘Team of the Weekend’.

Aaron Slight (New Zealand) and Gilham took seventh and eighth from Brewster, the Pro-Am2 winner. “I didn’t really do anything to win; the other guys lost it,” he said of the category. Notably, Hogarth spun out of the lead at Tower, but recovered to take second from Lyons.

The next rounds of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship take place at Snetterton, near Thetford in Norfolk, on 1/2 August.