Porsche Carrera Cup GB 2009 Race 11 & 12 Snetterton

Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain 09 Race 11 & 12 Snetterton

Porsche Carrera Cup GB action resumes at Snetterton

After a seven-week mid-season break, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB bursts back into action at Snetterton (1/2 August). Rounds 11 and 12 mark the start of a hectic run of six races through August as the championship builds towards the deciding races of the season in September and October.

It has already been a superb season for the Carrera Cup GB, with excellent grids, four different race winners and intense competition across all three categories. A field of 21 cars will line-up at the high-speed East Anglian track and it is Essex-based Tim Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) who heads to his home track with a slender points' lead.

With most of the key players having used the mid-season break for some testing, the relative pace of the front-runners at Snetterton will be very significant as the second half of the season begins.

Bridgman says that he and the team will continue to go all out for race wins, having won five of the 10 races so far. "There is no reason to change our approach to the weekends and as long as a bit of luck is on our side, we'll be fine. We've had our bad luck early in the season," said Bridgman.

Leading the chase is defending champion Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing), who is just three points behind Bridgman heading for Snetterton. However, Harvey knows that more speed is needed to really take the fight to Bridgman and that has been the focus for Harvey and the Red Line team since the most recent races at Croft.

Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) and James Sutton (Red Line Racing) are also firmly in contention to make the title race a four-way contest. Newmarket-based Caine is the absolute local ace at Snetterton, while Sutton heads to Norfolk after a victory in the most recent Carrera Cup race at Croft and a superb podium finish in the Porsche Supercup race at the British Grand Prix meeting.

Striving to bridge the gap to the championship big four is Carrera Cup Scholarship winner Tom Bradshaw (Team Parker Racing), while fellow scholar Lewis Hopkins is getting quicker and quicker in his debut season with Red Line Racing. Adding more quality to the pro field is series returnee Charles Bateman (Team Parker Racing).

The pro-am1 category is delivering some great racing this season, with at least six drivers chasing the title. But it is Robert Lawson (JHR) who is starting to build a useful points' advantage and he will head to Snetterton with a 21-point lead over Tony Gilham (Red Line Racing).

However, Lawson and Gilham can expect more fierce opposition from Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing), Ollie Jackson (Motorbase Performance), Derek Pierce (JHR) and Michael Leonard (Team Parker Racing), and all of them are potential pro-am1 winners. Completing the strong pro-am1 field will be Tommy Dreelan (Celtic Speed) and VIP racer Jeremy Clark (Porsche Motorsport).

With six cars running in the pro-am2 category, the competition among the earlier 911GT3 Cup cars will be another feature of the weekend. Points' leader Robin Clark and Glenn McMenamin run with Parr Motorsport, but Bob Lyons (Celtic Speed) and Paul Hogarth (IN2Racing) will be tough to beat. Paul Mace (GT Marques) rejoins the series and is another key contender, while making his Carrera Cup debut will be Monaco-based Andrew Tate (Apex Motorsport).

Jeremy Clark gets Porsche Carrera Cup GB prize drive

Jeremy Clark will join the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB for the next two races at Snetterton (1/2 August) as his prize for winning the 2008 Porsche Club Championship.

Attleborough-based Clark will race at his home track in the VIP car from Porsche Motorsport as part of the package of support given by Porsche Cars GB to the Porsche Club GB's motorsport programme.

Clark has raced in the Carrera Cup before, having contested the Snetterton weekend in August 2005 after being nominated for the drive by journalists from Autosport magazine. He says his ambitions for this latest opportunity are more realistic than last time around.

"I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to drive a legendary car," said Clark. "But my expectations are not so great as last time, when I jumped out of a Formula Vee straight into a super car with the hope that I could shake up the regulars!"

"This time my feet are firmly on the ground and with two hours testing I hope to walk before I run this time and use the testing to its maximum. Of course the Carrera Cup car is very, very different to the Porsches that I have raced for the past year, being twice as powerful for both engine and brakes and rear-engined, unlike the 944 that I've been racing."

However, Clark is thrilled at the chance to step up. "This is a fantastic prize for winning the 2008 Porsche Club Championship. If I can get used to the sequential gearbox then I will stand a chance but it is going to be tough to compete with the guys who have tested and raced all year."

Harvey wins Carrera Cup GB round 11 at Snetterton

Tim Harvey scored an emphatic victory in round 11 of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton today (Sunday 2 August 2009). Harvey led from start to finish but behind him there was plenty of action and battling as Glynn Geddie claimed pro-am1 and Glenn McMenamin won pro-am2.

Harvey (Red Line Racing) won the dash to the first corner from teammate James Sutton and as they battled Tim Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) was able to dive through to second place. Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) and Geddie (Team Parker Racing) made up a leading quartet and soon went clear as a first corner tangle eliminated Robert Lawson (JHR) and delayed his team mate Derek Pierce and Tom Bradshaw (Team Parker Racing).


Harvey quickly took control at the head of the race as Bridgman battled to hold off Sutton. Lap by lap, Harvey was able to edge away and built his lead to around three seconds. However, life was not so straightforward for Bridgman and his efforts to contain Sutton finally ended when Bridgman was caught behind a backmarker onto the Revett Straight and Sutton dived past. With Caine close behind, that was how they finished, with Harvey re-taking the championship lead from Bridgman.

"That's a great result," said Harvey. "My season always seems to start at this point. I wanted to get through the backmarkers carefully and it was completely under control." Sutton had a late scare in traffic, but stayed clear of Bridgman to secure second place. "I'm pretty satisfied with that," said Sutton. "But it is really busy out there." Bridgman, meanwhile, accepted that he did not have the speed to match Harvey. "I didn't quite have the pace, but it was all about the backmarkers."

While Caine took fourth, Geddie claimed a dominant pro-am1 win after a faultless drive. "I wanted to try and stick with the top four, but it wasn't worth taking any risks," he said after concentrating on winning pro-am1. Into second in pro-am1 came Ollie Jackson (Motorbase Performance) from Tony Gilham (Red Line Racing). However, Gilham had run second in pursuit of Geddie until he spun at Riches and dropped behind Jackson.

Jackson had been involved in the first corner incident and was initially concerned that he might have damaged a radiator, but all was well and he raced through to second in pro-am1. "I was pushing hard to catch Geddie and spun," admitted Gilham of his indiscretion.

The pro-am2 battle was a tremendous feature of the race and for many laps it was Paul Hogarth (IN2Racing) leading from Paul Mace (GT Marques) and McMenamin. The cars were seldom more than a few feet apart and finally, on lap 17, Mace dived past Hogarth into the Esses. However, Hogarth fought back as McMenamin dropped away with a spin at Russell.

Then, on lap 23 Hogarth and Mace were side by side into the Esses as Sutton came through to lap them. The pro-am2 leaders touched and spun and with both cars damaged they were out, which allowed McMenamin though to victory from Bob Lyons (Celtic Speed), who lost time with a first lap spin, and Robin Clark (Parr Motorsport). "I had an idea that could happen," said McMenamin. "After I spun, I thought that was it."

Harvey does Carrera Cup double at Snetterton

Tim Harvey made it a perfect weekend by winning round 12 of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton today (Sunday 2 August 2009) and completed a double win as Tim Bridgman chased home in second. Glynn Geddie also made it a double victory by winning pro-am1 while Paul Hogarth took pro-am2 after a monster battle with Paul Mace and Glenn McMenamin.

Harvey (Red Line Racing) shadowed teammate James Sutton for lap after lap with Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) and Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) again leading the chase. However, into the closing stages Harvey moved ever closer to Sutton and started to look at ways to take the lead. Into Riches on lap 19, Sutton locked a front wheel and ran wide onto the grass as Harvey and Bridgman swept through. Then, as Sutton rejoined on the run to Sear, Caine tried to dive through. The cars made contact and Caine was out on the spot as Sutton recovered to salvage third place.

But it was Harvey who took a fine double win to make it a perfect weekend. "I've had a great day; I knew right from testing on Friday that my car was really strong." Red Line Racing was announced as 'team of the weekend' and Bridgman acknowledged that he did not the have the pace to match Harvey this time around. "We did a good job, but they did a better job," said Bridgman.

Sutton was a frustrated third while Geddie (Team Parker Racing) made it a pro-am1 double with fourth overall and was right on Sutton's tail at the flag. "It was a good result," said Geddie. "I was trying to get an overall podium and I'm sure it will come." Geddie was confirmed as 'driver of the weekend'.

Fifth overall and second in pro-am1 was a good result for Tony Gilham (Red Line Racing), who spent many laps defending his place from Tom Bradshaw (Team Parker Racing). "It was tough keeping Tom behind," said Gilham, who significantly closed the pro-am1 points' gap to Robert Lawson (JHR) across the pair of races. Ollie Jackson (Motorbase Performance) completed the pro-am1 podium, but Lawson was on Jackson's tail at the flag.

Once again, the pro-am2 battle was one of the features of the race as Paul Hogarth (IN2 Racing) fended off Paul Mace (GT Marques) and Glenn McMenamin. It was incredibly close for most of the race and Hogarth and Mace ran side by side into Russell with two laps to go. Then, a lap later Mace dropped down to first gear at the Esses in avoiding contact with Hogarth and a quick spin dropped him behind McMenamin. "I never got a lap on my own," said Hogarth. "I couldn't afford to make a single mistake."