Bridgman completes Carrera Cup double at Brands
Bridgman completes Carrera Cup double at Brands
Tim Bridgman got his 2009 season off to the perfect start by completing a weekend double win in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch today (Sunday 5 April 2009). In similar style to Saturday’s round one, Bridgman swept to victory from Tim Harvey and Michael Caine. Glynn Geddie claimed pro-am1 spoils, while Karl Leonard topped the pro-am2 runners.
In front of a big crowd and live on ITV4, Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) led from the start and controlled the race from the front. Even an early safety car period failed to unseat him and Bridgman completed a faultless weekend to take the early championship lead. “I can’t ask for any more than that,” said Bridgman. “It was how I wanted it to be, so I’m very, very happy. The guys at Team Parker Racing have done a great job.” His dominance also earned him the ‘driver of the weekend’ award, while Red Line Racing won the ‘team of the weekend’ award.
Harvey (Red Line Racing) and Caine (Motorbase Performance) chased after Bridgman, and were never too far apart as they raced to the remaining podium positions. “The margins are very close between us; it came down to set-up over 32 laps,” said Harvey. “We just didn’t have the pace of Tim Bridgman this weekend,” accepted Caine.
With Tom Bradshaw (Team Parker Racing) out early on when contact with team mate Glynn Geddie sent him into the gravel at Clearways, it was Dean Smith (Red Line Racing) who wrapped up a strong weekend with fourth place. He pulled clear of the chasing pack and it was Geddie who had to fight his way back through from ninth to finish fifth and win the pro-am1 category. “I really had to chase back, but that feels good after a disastrous race yesterday,” said Geddie.
Michael Leonard (Team Parker Racing) ran as high as fifth at one point, after starting down in 11th place. “I got a fantastic start,” said Leonard but a spin at Druids later dropped him back to seventh behind team mate Jake Rosenzweig. In an amended result for race one, Leonard has earlier been confirmed as pro-am1 winner after Tony Gilham was penalised back one place for overtaking under a yellow flag.
Completing the pro-am1 podium in race two was Ollie Jackson (Motorbase Performance) after a fine drive. He worked hard to try and fend off the recovering Geddie and was just ahead of the incident that eventually led to a red flag after 32 laps. “I got a decent start, but then I worked the front tyres a bit too hard,” said Jackson.
Right behind Jackson was the battle between Gilham (Red Line Racing) and JHR team mates Robert Lawson and Derek Pierce. However, after many laps of close racing, Gilham and Lawson touched coming onto the pit straight and Gilham spun into the barriers, causing a red flag.
In pro-am2, Karl Leonard (RSS Performance) made the running and battled with some of the pro-am1 racers before a touch with another car sent him wide onto the grass at Graham Hill Bend. He recovered well to take pro-am2 victory from George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) and Robin Clark (Parr Motorsport).
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