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News 2007: Motorbase Performance Carrera Cup Report, Thruxton: 5/6 May

Andy BritnellA third victory from six rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB has put Steven Kane and Motorbase Performance just two points adrift of championship leader Tim Harvey after another superb weekend for the team at Thruxton (5/6 May).

For the second weekend running, Motorbase Performance was also named as the 'RAC team of the weekend', which was a fine way for team boss David Bartrum to celebrate his birthday on Sunday.

Sam HancockKane dominated the weekend at a venue that is notoriously challenging for teams and drivers. He took pole position, won both races and took fastest lap in the first race to cut five points from Harvey's championship lead. Heading into a four-week break in the calendar, Kane is now only two points behind Harvey after six of the season's 20 races.

Meanwhile, Sam Hancock had his best Carrera Cup weekend to date and came within half a lap of his first podium finish as he claimed a brace of fourth places, while Andy Britnell took second in pro-am in round five.

Steven Kane"It's a learning curve all over again," said Kane after taking pole position at the high-speed track. "We've changed the car since we tested here last month and it felt really good." Hancock also qualified strongly, while Britnell had lapped faster than ever before after a good test day at Donington a week earlier.

In the opening race, Kane got the jump on his rivals at the start and was able to fend off Harvey and James Sutton to claim a superb victory. That gave him pole for Sunday's race, when he did it all over again. However, Sunday's race ran with a lengthy safety car session after Kelvin Burt crashed heavily on the first lap. "I tried to make a bit of a gap and hold it. But Tim is really good round here, and every time he pushed, I had to push as well," said Steven.

PodiumHancock went with the leading pack and was holding third until the final lap when Sutton was able to nip ahead as Sam struggled with tyres. "He got past me on the one corner where I was struggling," said Sam after his strongest showing to date.

Britnell led the chase of pro-am winner Nigel Rice on Saturday, but was soon in trouble in Sunday's race when he lost the front splitter from his car. "I honestly don't know how I lost it, but after that I was really struggling with understeer," said Andy after salvaging fourth in pro-am.

There is now a four-week gap before the season resumes at Croft on 2/3 June. While Kane is now right with Harvey in the overall title race, Hancock is fifth and Britnell is second in pro-am. In the prestigious teams' championship, Motorbase lies second to Red Line Racing, just 17 points adrift.

08.05.07

Provisional 2007 driver championship points positions

After round 6, Thruxton 6 May

Pos
 Driver Total points
1
 Tim Harvey
114
2
 Steven Kane
112
3
 James Sutton
90
4
 Michael Caine
88
5
 Sam Hancock
75
6
 Nigel Rice
57
7
 Rob Collard
56
8
 Andy Britnell
46
9
 Charles Bateman
42
10
 Pete Osborne
29
11
 James Pickford
16
12
 Kelvin Burt
12
13
 Colin Willmott
11
14
 Peter Bamford
9
15
 David Ashburn
5
Pro-am category
1
 Nigel Rice
57
2
 Andy Britnell
46
3
 Charles Bateman
42
4
 Pete Osborne
29
5
 Colin Willmott
11
6
 Peter Bamford
9
7
 David Ashburn
5

 

Provisional 2007 team championship points positions

After round 6, Thruxton 6 May

Pos
 Team Total points Scoring drivers
1
 Red Line Racing
204
 Harvey and Sutton
2
 Motorbase Performance
187
 Hancock and Kane
3
 Team Parker Racing
129
 Caine and Collard
4
 Team O
29
  
5
 QME Sport
28
  
6
 Willmott Racing/TWC
11
  
7
 Team RPM
9
  
8
 Trackspeed
5
  

Note:

Only two cars per team can score points towards the team championship.
The scoring cars had to be nominated prior to the opening race of the season.