| Sutton takes Carrera Cup double at Rockingham(24-9-09) | ||
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James Sutton made it four wins in a row in round 18 of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham today (Sunday 20 September 2009). By leading Michael Caine, Tim Bridgman and Tim Harvey to the flag, Sutton set up a dramatic three-way title shoot out in the deciding races at Brands Hatch on 4 October. Ollie Jackson drove a superb race to win the pro-am1 category victory, while Glenn McMenamin won pro-am2 to make himself favourite for the category crown. Jackson's performance earned him the 'driver of the weekend' award while the 'team of the weekend' award went to IN2Racing for rebuilding the car of Paul Hogarth overnight after a major accident in the opening race. Sutton (Red Line Racing) got the jump off the grid and led into the race, but it nearly all went wrong as they braked for Deene on lap three. A lap earlier Robert Lawson (JHR) hit the wall at Turn 1 and dropped coolant at Deene as he limped into retirement. When Sutton led the pack around on the next lap, he was first to find the slippery track and overshot the corner. Harvey (Red Line Racing) followed suit, and flat-spotted his tyres as he tried to slow the car |
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down. That allowed Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) and Caine (Motorbase Performance) to get ahead of Harvey as Sutton just managed to retain the lead. While Sutton headed the quartet, Caine made the best progress and dived through to second when he got inside Bridgman into Tarzan on lap eight. Caine then moved in on Sutton and pushed the leader all the way to the flag as Bridgman and Harvey slipped away a little in third and fourth. "He was hounding me an awful lot," said Sutton of Caine. "I was just being cautious with the tyres," added Sutton after another fine victory. "I think we had the car to win, but James did a good job," said Caine after taking second, while third place was significant for Bridgman as he finished ahead of Harvey. "We just didn't have the pace over a race distance," said Bridgman, while Harvey was relieved to salvage fourth place with his flat-spotted tyres. Into a superb fifth overall went pro-am1 winner Ollie Jackson (Motorbase Performance), having stayed clear of class rival Tony Gilham (Red Line Racing) with a faultless drive. "I just locked onto the back of Tim Harvey and kept an eye on the mirrors now and again," said Jackson after his first pro-am1 victory. Gilham had strong early pace as he tigered through to sixth, but found his car's handling falling away as the race developed. With Lawson out, third in pro-am1 was an important finish for Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing), despite handling problems. Seventh was scant reward for a tremendous drive from Tom Bradshaw (Team Parker Racing) who ran as high as third off the start, but spun at Yentwood when giving Bridgman room. Bradshaw then stormed back through the field and took overall fastest lap in the process. Glenn McMenamin (Parr Motorsport) always had the measure of pro-am2, although mid-race Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance) closed the gap. "It's harder than you think to stay out front, said McMenamin after a well-judged win. "It was about managing the tyres." With Parish out later with a puncture, Paul Hogarth (IN2Racing) took second in pro-am2 from Paul Mace (GT Marques). |
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