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Cole on pole in Scotland
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Mark Cole claimed pole position for the sprint race of the Michelin Porsche Cup at Knockhill today (Saturday August 10).
At the tight and twisty Scottish track, Cole lapped at a scorching pace to head the times by three tenths of a second. With little more than a second covering the top nine times, Cole’s advantage was particularly impressive.
“The car felt very good and I thought that was a good enough lap,” said Cole. “I was pretty determined,” he added. “That’s the perfect situation for me, and I’ve only done four hard laps on the tyres.”
Kelvin Burt claimed the second slot on the grid from Adrian Slater, with title contenders Phil Hindley and Mark Sumpter close behind. Having set the pace in testing on Friday, Burt sat out the closing minutes of the session in the pits with the car entered by Porsche Cars Great Britain.
“To be honest, I didn’t drive that well and the car was a bit leary through the chicane. I was trying not to do too many laps,” said Burt. “The time is there and I should have done it,” he admitted.
Slater was content to be third, preferring that grid slot to the outside of the front row. “I think it’ll be a good race,” predicted Slater. Evidence of how hard Hindley was trying in fourth was demonstrated by the fact that his 2001 car was only tenth fastest through the speed traps.
In trouble, however, was Andrew Shelley who slid backwards into the tyre wall at Clark Corner after a spin on some oil. Although Andrew was unhurt, the back of the car was damaged and the Red Line Racing team was left with a lot of work to get the car ready for the sprint race.
Shelley had set eighth fastest time before his accident, just behind Nigel Rice and championship newcomer David Cuff. Close behind Shelley in ninth was the other series newcomer, local ace Barry Horne. The Caterham ace was making his championship debut with Parr Motorsport as a warm up to a planned full campaign in 2003.
| Porsche Cup - PROVISIONAL QUALIFYING
TIMES - ROUND 9 - RACE 1 |
| POS |
NO |
CL |
DRIVER |
NAT |
CAR |
TIME |
LAPS |
GAP |
MPH |
| 1 |
20 |
|
Mark COLE |
|
Team BCR |
53.791 |
11 |
|
86.91 |
| 2 |
5 |
|
Kelvin BURT |
|
Porsche Cars GB |
54.048 |
13 |
0.257 |
86.49 |
| 3 |
27 |
|
Adrian SLATER |
|
www.midcos.com |
54.095 |
17 |
0.304 |
86.42 |
| 4 |
9 |
|
Phil HINDLEY |
|
Tech 9 Motorsport |
54.196 |
17 |
0.405 |
86.26 |
| 5 |
77 |
|
Mark SUMPTER |
|
Team Paragon Eurotech |
54.324 |
16 |
0.533 |
86.05 |
| 6 |
2 |
|
Nigel RICE |
|
Parr Motorsport |
54.392 |
20 |
0.601 |
85.94 |
| 7 |
13 |
|
David CUFF |
|
Team BCR |
54.788 |
17 |
0.997 |
85.32 |
| 8 |
6 |
|
Andrew SHELLEY |
|
Redline Racing |
54.811 |
6 |
1.020 |
85.29 |
| 9 |
4 |
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Barry HORN |
|
Parr Motorsport/Rivervale |
54.818 |
19 |
1.027 |
85.28 |
| 10 |
7 |
|
Jason YOUNG |
|
J & A Young (Leics) Ltd |
55.153 |
16 |
1.362 |
84.76 |
| 11 |
42 |
|
Nigel VAULKHARD |
|
John Smithwaite Motorsport |
55.344 |
18 |
1.553 |
84.47 |
| 12 |
17 |
|
Nick JAMES |
|
Arnold James |
57.592 |
8 |
3.801 |
81.17 |
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Start Time : 10:35 |
| Weather / Track : Cloudy / Dry |
End Time : 10:55 |
| Copyright © 2002 MST Group Ltd. All
Rights Reserved |
Issued : 11:00 Saturday 10 August 2002 |
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Cole wins sprint race at Knockhill
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Mark Cole scored an emphatic victory in the Michelin Porsche Cup sprint race at Knockhill this afternoon (Saturday August 10).
Cole extended his championship lead by battling ahead of early leader Kelvin Burt to score a very important win. “My car was handling better than Kelvin’s,” reckoned Cole after out-braking his rival into Duffus Dip.
Having sat behind Burt for the first 10 laps, Cole saw his chance when Burt was slow out of the Hairpin and pulled alongside on the run to Duffus Dip. “We were fair to each other,” said Cole. “Kelvin had oversteer at the hairpin.” However, late in the race Cole had a scare when his exhaust broke and he finished the race hoping that it would not fall off.
Burt struggled with damaged steering and only just fended off Adrian Slater in the closing stages of the race. “I damaged something in the steering over the chicane kerbs. It became very unstable,” reckoned Burt.
Into Duffus Dip for the last time, Slater got close to grabbing second but Burt was just able to defend. “I’d hung on for 17 laps and it could have taken us both off,” said Slater after ducking out of the move and settling for third.
Behind Slater, Phil Hindley took fourth from Mark Sumpter and Nigel Rice in a fairly static but fairly uneventful contest. Barry Horne battled ahead of David Cuff to take seventh and finish the best of the newcomers.
| Porsche Cup - PROVISIONAL RESULT
- ROUND 9 - RACE 1 |
| POS |
NO |
CL |
DRIVER |
NAT |
CAR |
TIME |
LAPS |
GAP |
MPH |
BEST |
| 1 |
20 |
|
Mark COLE |
|
Team BCR |
16:30.306 |
18 |
|
84.97 |
54.089 |
| 2 |
5 |
|
Kelvin BURT |
|
Porsche Cars GB |
16:32.291 |
18 |
1.985 |
84.80 |
54.477 |
| 3 |
27 |
|
Adrian SLATER |
|
www.midcos.com |
16:32.471 |
18 |
2.165 |
84.78 |
54.221 |
| 4 |
9 |
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Phil HINDLEY |
|
Tech 9 Motorsport |
16:34.787 |
18 |
4.481 |
84.59 |
54.532 |
| 5 |
77 |
|
Mark SUMPTER |
|
Team Paragon Eurotech |
16:36.769 |
18 |
6.463 |
84.42 |
54.524 |
| 6 |
2 |
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Nigel RICE |
|
Parr Motorsport |
16:41.720 |
18 |
11.414 |
84.00 |
54.682 |
| 7 |
4 |
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Barry HORN |
|
Parr Motorsport/Rivervale |
16:46.995 |
18 |
16.689 |
83.56 |
54.630 |
| 8 |
13 |
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David CUFF |
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Team BCR |
16:48.860 |
18 |
18.554 |
83.41 |
54.916 |
| 9 |
6 |
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Andrew SHELLEY |
|
Redline Racing |
16:56.064 |
18 |
25.758 |
82.81 |
55.686 |
| 10 |
42 |
|
Nigel VAULKHARD |
|
John Smithwaite Motorsport |
17:24.348 |
18 |
54.042 |
80.57 |
55.434 |
| 11 |
17 |
|
Nick JAMES |
|
Arnold James |
16:46.134 |
17 |
1 LAP |
78.99 |
56.144 |
| Not Classified |
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7 |
|
Jason YOUNG |
|
J & A Young (Leics) Ltd |
|
0 |
D.N.F. |
N/A |
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| Fastest Lap |
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20 |
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Mark COLE |
|
Team BCR |
54.089 |
7 |
139.09kph |
86.43 |
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Start Time : 17:24 |
| Weather / Track : Cloudy / Dry |
End Time : 17:41 |
| Copyright © 2002 MST Group Ltd. All
Rights Reserved |
Issued : 17:46 Saturday 10 August 2002 |
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Burt wins in the rain
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Kelvin Burt splashed to victory in a very wet feature race of the Michelin Porsche Cup at Knockhill on Sunday (August 11).
As steady rain soaked the track, Burt just held off the ever-present Mark Cole to reverse the finishing order from Saturday�s sprint race. �I made one mistake and he was right on top of me again,� said Burt after the 23-lap race.
�Mark drove very well,� said Burt of his rival, as their battle took them well clear of the rest of the field. �The visibility was very difficult and it was hard enough just staying on the track,� said Cole, after a weekend that has put him closer to claiming the championship title.
Racing returnee David Cuff finished a fine third, staying clear of Adrian Slater and Mark Sumpter. Out at the first corner in a spin went Phil Hindley, after contact with Slater. He as later to be followed by local ace Barry Horne who spun at the hairpin and was unable to rejoin, with the car stuck on the wet grass. Nigel Rice dropped to sixth place in conditions he dislikes, having held third in the early laps.
Slater drove a strong race to forge ahead of Sumpter, then pass Rice into Clark Corner. However, by the time Slater got through to fourth, Cuff was too far clear to be caught. �I�ve never driven the car in the rain before,� said Cuff. �The weather was kind to me, I don�t think I�d have finished there in the dry.�
Jason Young took advantage when Andrew Shelley and Nigel Vaulkhard spun at the hairpin to take seventh, with Shelley recovering to finish eighth ahead of Nick James, who also spun at the hairpin.
| Porsche Cup - PROVISIONAL RESULT - ROUND 9 - RACE 2 |
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | CAR | TIME | LAPS | GAP | MPH | BEST |
| 1 | 5 | | Kelvin BURT | | Porsche Cars GB | 23:19.537 | 23 | | 76.82 | 1:00.218 |
| 2 | 20 | | Mark COLE | | Team BCR | 23:20.414 | 23 | 0.877 | 76.78 | 59.670 |
| 3 | 13 | | David CUFF | | Team BCR | 23:44.020 | 23 | 24.483 | 75.50 | 1:01.056 |
| 4 | 27 | | Adrian SLATER | | www.midcos.com | 23:49.442 | 23 | 29.905 | 75.22 | 1:01.144 |
| 5 | 77 | | Mark SUMPTER | | Team Paragon Eurotech | 23:51.578 | 23 | 32.041 | 75.10 | 1:00.955 |
| 6 | 2 | | Nigel RICE | | Parr Motorsport | 24:04.917 | 23 | 45.380 | 74.41 | 1:01.710 |
| 7 | 7 | | Jason YOUNG | | J & A Young (Leics) Ltd | 24:19.627 | 23 | 1:00.090 | 73.66 | 1:01.882 |
| 8 | 6 | | Andrew SHELLEY | | Redline Racing | 23:23.371 | 22 | 1 LAP | 73.28 | 1:02.027 |
| 9 | 17 | | Nick JAMES | | Arnold James | 23:34.305 | 22 | 1 LAP | 72.72 | 1:01.924 |
| Not Classified | | | | | | | |
| | 42 | | Nigel VAULKHARD | | John Smithwaite Motorsport | 13:49.753 | 13 | D.N.F. | 73.24 | 1:01.517 |
| | 4 | | Barry HORN | | Parr Motorsport/Rivervale | 7:24.150 | 7 | D.N.F. | 73.67 | 1:01.767 |
| | 9 | | Phil HINDLEY | | Tech 9 Motorsport | | 0 | D.N.F. | N/A | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Fastest Lap | | | | | | | |
| | 20 | | Mark COLE | | Team BCR | 59.670 | 9 | 126.08kph | 78.34 | |
| | | | | Start Time : 14:15 |
| Weather / Track : Raining / Wet | End Time : 14:38 |
| Copyright © 2002 MST Group Ltd. All Rights Reserved | Issued : 14:41 Sunday 11 August 2002 |
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