You Are Here > Home > Faulkner And Harvey Share The Spoils In Ireland
Damien Faulkner and Tim Harvey each tasted victory in two action-packed races for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at the Mondello Park circuit in Ireland over the weekend of 22/23 April.
Race One
Local driver Faulkner (Co Donegal) twice had to cope with race re-starts as two safety car periods interrupted the contest. However, having led from the start, the reigning Carrera Cup champion was never going to lessen his grip on the lead and he was able to quickly re-assert himself. “Mondello has always been good to me and it���s great to come back here and do well,” said Faulkner (who drives for Leicester-based Team Parker Racing with SAS) after a commanding performance. “The car was fantastic.”
Tim Harvey (Witney) led the chase of Faulkner, after a brush with Danny Watts (Buckingham) on the charge to the first corner. As Watts ran wide, Michael Caine (Newmarket) nipped through into third and settled in behind his team-mate.
With Jason Templeman (Nottingham) spinning out of fifth, Watts now concentrated on attacking Caine for third. Into the last corner for the eighth time, Watts dived for the inside and the cars touched, with Caine sliding off into the gravel. “He was two or three car���s lengths behind and all of a sudden he sledged into the side of me,” said Caine. “I dived down the inside and he tried turning in,” countered Watts.>
While Faulkner and Harvey swept to the top two places, and Watts limped into retirement with suspension damage, the battle for third now centred on Richard Williams (Bromley-by-Bow, London) and Michael Devaney (Dublin). The place changed twice before Devaney ��� guesting in the car entered by Porsche Cars GB in association with Vertu, the world���s first and only manufacturer of luxury handcrafted mobile phones, grabbed third with a neat move under braking into turn one.
“I couldn���t match Damien���s pace,” admitted Harvey, driving for Kent-based team Motorbase Performance. “I was right in the middle into the first corner and it���s whacked a wheel. I���m just pleased it didn���t puncture.” Although more used to racing in the international A1GP series, Devaney claimed a fine third. “You can run a lot closer with other cars than you can in single-seaters and the racing was very fair,” he said of his first Porsche race. Williams was equally pleased to take the points for third, the highest position so far this year for the new IN2RACING squad from Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire. “It was busy and I had to work for it,” he said. “It���s a great result for me and the team.”
Fifth overall was Pro-Am category winner Phil Quaife (Tonbridge) after a fine race, despite pressure in the later stages from Sam Edwards (Aylesbury). “I���m over the moon,” said Quaife. “I can���t ask for more.” Edwards was less than a second behind after a mature drive, while Nigel Rice (Beverley) and Jason Young (Oakham) were next up for Red Line Racing. Both had battled back into contention after first-lap delays.
Race two
Harvey claimed a dramatic last lap victory in round four after sweeping past race-long leader Faulkner when the Irish ace spun on oil just two corners from the flag. Meanwhile, in another incident-packed race, Quaife completed a Pro-Am category double to earn the ���Driver of the Weekend��� award.
While Faulkner and Harvey took the top two places at the first corner, various dramas were going on back in the pack and the safety car was out after two laps while stricken cars were moved. The early incidents eliminated Caine, Templeman and Tim Sugden (Leeds), who had all started at the back of the grid.
Up front, Faulkner started to press home his advantage as Harvey came under pressure from Devaney. Quaife held a fine fourth from Pro-Am rival Edwards, as Williams recovered from an early incident.
Over the early laps, Harvey was able to match Faulkner���s pace, but Devaney was also driving a mighty race to stay in contention. Finally, as the race entered its middle stages, Faulkner started to edge away and into Turn 7A for the tenth time Devaney dived inside Harvey to take second. “It was a big lunge and I locked up a wheel,” admitted Devaney, but the pass was clean but ultimately he had by now taken the best out of his tyres.
Faulkner pulled ahead further as Harvey set about re-challenging Devaney, but charging up from the back of the grid came Watts and he quickly moved onto Harvey���s tail. Shortly after, Harvey re-passed Devaney to move back into second, and Watts soon edged Devaney back to fourth with a bold move into Lola Corner.
With three laps to go, Watts was attacking Harvey, but Rice had started dropping coolant from a damaged radiator and Danny lost time with a moment on the slippery track. Still Faulkner led, but two corners from the flag he spun on the oil and an incredulous Harvey swept by to win before Faulkner could get going again.
“We saw the coolant on the lap before the last and I couldn���t believe it when I saw Damien sitting there desperately trying to get a gear,” said Harvey. “I���ll buy Nigel Rice some Guinness,” he joked after his first win of the season. “I just made a mistake,” admitted Faulkner after recovering for second. “The conditions were very, very tricky and there was coolant down all over the place.”
Watts and Devaney were third and fourth after fine drives. “I had a fantastic race to get this podium finish,” said Watts, who had started from the back of the grid after his non-finish in the first race.
Quaife had to drive very hard to hang on to fifth place, with Williams and Edwards right on his tail for lap after lap. “My first weekend at Mondello Park and two wins,” said the jubilant Kent driver.
Ask about our commercial
partnership opportunities.
Write a comment