News 2007: Motorbase Performance Carrera Cup Report, Rockingham: 21/22 April
A commanding victory in round four of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham on Sunday (22 April) put Steven Kane and Motorbase Performance firmly into contention for the championship. Kane now lies only seven points behind Tim Harvey after four rounds.
Kane had a fabulous weekend at the Northamptonshire track to score maximum points as race three winner Andrew Kirkaldy was racing the non-scoring VIP car. As well as Kane's arrival as a Carrera Cup winner, Andy Britnell bagged a brace of pro-am podiums and Sam Hancock clinched a pair of fifth places.
The team was right on the pace all weekend and was awarded with the 'RAC team of the weekend' award for its efforts. Team boss David Bartrum climbed onto the podium after the second race to collect the award and promptly got a champagne soaking from Kane!
The weekend started well in testing on Friday and on Saturday morning Kane was second fastest, just a tenth of a second off pole position and half a second ahead of championship leader Harvey.
As James Sutton led the field away, Kane challenged Kirkaldy for second from the start, but just ran wide at the Brooke Esses and lost ground. Later, when Sutton picked up a puncture, Kane moved through to second and maximum points, having set the fastest lap of the race. "My car was very fast, but the rear brakes were locking up a bit and I spent most of the race trying to catch up. It was an eventful race!"
Hancock bagged fifth place, while Britnell was in trouble as he slipped to third place in pro-am. "I out-braked myself at the first hairpin and knocked the front splitter off. After that I had horrendous understeer," he explained.
Things were even better on Sunday as Kane drove a superb race to lead from the start and score a resounding victory, with Harvey finishing seven seconds behind in second place. "That's definitely what I needed for the championship," said a delighted Kane. "I made a clean start and it was just about keeping a consistent pace. We worked hard with the car and everything has come together. The boys have done a brilliant job this weekend!"
Hancock was again fifth, but had run well up with the leaders over the opening stages. "We've been making small improvements in the car all weekend," he said. Britnell also had a strong race and chased Nigel Rice race-long to take second place in pro-am, finishing less than half a second behind his rival.
23.04.07
Provisional 2007 driver championship points positions
After round 4, Rockingham 22 April
Pos |
Driver | Total points |
1 |
Tim Harvey | 77 |
2 |
Steven Kane | 70 |
3 |
Michael Caine | 66 |
4 |
James Sutton | 58 |
5 |
Sam Hancock | 47 |
6 |
Nigel Rice | 40 |
7 |
Rob Collard | 37 |
8 |
Andy Britnell | 33 |
9 |
Charles Bateman | 29 |
10 |
James Pickford | 16 |
= |
Pete Osborne | 16 |
12 |
Colin Willmott | 11 |
13 |
David Ashburn | 5 |
| Pro-am category | ||
1 |
Nigel Rice | 40 |
2 |
Andy Britnell | 33 |
3 |
Charles Bateman | 29 |
4 |
Pete Osborne | 16 |
5 |
Colin Willmott | 11 |
6 |
David Ashburn | 5 |
Provisional 2007 team championship points positions
After round 4, Rockingham 22 April
Pos |
Team | Total points | Scoring drivers |
1 |
Red Line Racing | 135 |
Harvey and Sutton |
2 |
Motorbase Performance | 117 |
Hancock and Kane |
3 |
Team Parker Racing | 103 |
Caine and Collard |
4 |
QME Sport | 16 |
|
= |
Team O | 16 |
|
6 |
Willmott Racing/TWC | 11 |
|
7 |
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.
