News: Motorbase Performance Carrera Cup report, Oulton Park: 23/24 June

Motorbase Performance racer Steven Kane strengthened his grip on the Porsche Carrera Cup GB title with a double win at Oulton Park over the weekend (23/24 June).

Andy Britnell then completed a Motorbase clean sweep of the top step of the podium by scoring a fine pro-am double victory, while Sam Hancock bagged a brace of fifth places and Gary Britnell made a great return to the championship after two years away.

Kane's first win came in round nine of the championship in a race where the top four drivers were covered by less than two and a half seconds after 25 minutes of racing. Kane had to race hard for lap after lap as Michael Caine, James Sutton and Tim Harvey chased relentlessly.

On a dry track, Kane and Caine went side by side into the first corner and with Kane on the inside, he was just able to edge ahead. The leading quartet made a superb sight as the cars raced nose to tail around the parkland track. Initially Kane made a small gap, but he was soon reeled in again and there was nothing to choose between the four cars for the second half of the race. Hancock was never far away from the four leaders in fifth place.

"My car started to go off a bit and the cars of the guys behind seemed to get better," said Kane. "Then I was struggling on the brakes," he added, having defended his lead from Caine to take an important victory for his title challenge. "I just need to keep on doing that!"

Early on, Britnell ran ahead of VIP racer Nathan Freke. "There was no point in racing with him, but I kept him behind as long as I could before I let him through," said Britnell, who then had to concentrate on the growing challenge of Charles Bateman. "Charles really came at me a couple of times," said Britnell. However, on the penultimate lap, Bateman spun at the hairpin and Britnell was secure.

On Sunday, a tremendous race in front of a massive crowd looked set to deliver the first Carrera Cup win for Caine until he spun two laps from home and handed victory to Kane. In the pro-am category, Britnell also made it two wins at Oulton Park despite constant pressure from Bateman in a thrilling battle.

Caine got the better start to beat Kane into the first corner. For lap after lap, Kane put the race leader under pressure and it finally paid off two laps from the end when Caine spun at Knickerbrook and Kane swept ahead to win. "That was a real surprise," said Kane of his win. "Michael had driven very well all weekend." The result pushes Kane further clear in the points with 10 of the season's 20 races complete.

Freke grabbed fifth from Hancock on the opening lap but Sam was soon on the attack and dived back ahead under braking for Old Hall Corner on lap seven to make sure of fifth place.

One of the best contests of the race was for the pro-am lead and seventh place overall as Britnell had to race very hard to see off a mighty challenge from Bateman. Seldom were the cars more than a few yards apart, but Britnell managed to defend all the way to the flag for a great victory. "What a scrap! It was a mega race and I just could not get away from Charles," said Britnell.

Finally, on his racing return, Gary Britnell rejoined Motorbase to race a fourth car and enjoyed two good races. On Saturday he successfully defended his place from Peter Morris, but on Sunday Morris finally got ahead in their private battle.

25.06.07

Provisional 2007 driver championship points positions

After round 10, Oulton park 24 June

Pos	Driver	Total points
1	Steven Kane	190
2	Tim Harvey	174
3	James Sutton	168
4	Michael Caine	142
5	Sam Hancock	129
6	Nigel Rice	95
7	Andy Britnell	84
8	Charles Bateman	74
9	Pete Osborne	58
10	Rob Collard	56
11	Colin Willmott	36
12	James Pickford	16
13	Kelvin Burt	12
14	Peter Bamford	9
=	Gary Britnell	9
=	Peter Morris	9
17	David Ashburn	5
18	Mark Stephenson	0
Pro-am category
1	Nigel Rice	95
2	Andy Britnell	84
3	Charles Bateman	74
4	Pete Osborne	58
5	Colin Willmott	36
6	Peter Bamford	9
=	Gary Britnell	9
=	Peter Morris	9
9	David Ashburn	5
10	Mark Stephenson	0

 

Provisional 2007 team championship points positions

After round 10, Oulton Park 24 June

Pos	Team	Total points	Scoring drivers
1	Red Line Racing	342	Harvey and Sutton
2	Motorbase Performance	316	Hancock and Kane
3	Team Parker Racing	183	Caine and Collard
4	Team O	58	Osborne
5	Willmott Racing/TWC	45	Willmott and Morris
6	QME Sport	28	Burt
7	Team RPM	9	Bamford
8	Trackspeed	5	Ashburn
9	ABG Motorsport	0	Stephenson

 

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.

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