The 25-year old racer from Banbury is the first Carrera Cup Scholarship winner to go on and take the overall title. “It’s been three years of hard work since being the Carrera Cup Scholar. I found my pace last year and I’m glad we’ve achieved what we set out to do. It’s been a privilege to race in the Carrera Cup.”
“It was really important to me to win the race,” he said. “Ben Barker has dominated the last few races and I wanted to come to Silverstone and show that I hadn’t just settled for finishing fourth. I wanted to get pole and win.”
Meadows paid tribute to the importance of the Carrera Cup Scholarship in the development of his career. “Winning the Scholarship and racing in the Carrera Cup has taught me what I needed to know about sports cars: from the right training to how to deal with the heat, how to deal with the media and how to drive a car like the 450hp rear-engined 911 GT3 Cup quickly.
“This Championship has some fantastic drivers and we’ve all been pushing each other this season. It’s just got massive over the last three years. This is the best championship on the BTCC package for driving standards. There is barely any contact at the front and everyone is super fast and driving really quick cars.”
At the same time, Ahmad Al Harthy clinched the Pro-Am1 Championship title. Oman-based Al Harthy has driven a superb campaign and richly deserves his crown. “We dreamed about ending it this way and finally I’m a Champion and that feels really great,” he said after climbing down from the podium. “It has been three years of hard work to get to this point. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but I’m sure it will on the flight back home. I’m so excited about this.”
Al Harthy is a very popular member of the Carrera Cup grid, having joined the series in 2010. He commutes from his home in Oman for each race weekend and works hard to promote his home country and his sponsors.
“I must say a massive thanks to the guys from Redline Racing, who are behind the Oman Air Racing Team car: they’re the best in the business,” he added. “I love Silverstone and to be able to get two wins this weekend was exactly what we wanted and to wrap-up the Championship with a dominant win is something very special. It’s also a very proud moment for me to be the first Omani - and the first Arab driver - to win a title like this in such a prestigious series.”
Round 17
In a race run in foggy conditions, Barker saw off a race-long challenge from James Sutton to score his fifth win in a row, while Michael Meadows took another step towards the title with a measured drive to fourth place. With Rory Butcher claiming the final overall podium position, Ahmad Al Harthy consolidated his Championship lead in Pro-Am1 after a fine contest with Derek Pierce, while Richard Denny clinched Pro-Am2 after a strong early challenge from Will Goff.
With Silverstone shrouded in fog, the race start was delayed 45 minutes until visibility was good enough for racing. But the delay made no difference to Barker (Cambridge) who got the jump from pole to head the field into Copse. Sutton (London) slotted into second while Butcher (Kirkcaldy) braved it out around the outside at Copse to grab third from Meadows (Banbury).
Although Barker quickly established his lead at around a second, Sutton mounted a determined pursuit and pushed the leader throughout the 28-lap race. Several times the gap came down to only half a second, but Barker was driving superbly and never offered Sutton the smallest of opportunities. Even after 26 minutes of flat out racing, the winning margin was only three quarters of a second.
“We kept the ball rolling,” said Barker after his fifth straight win. “We’ve really proven that we’ve clicked with the car. I was just trying to control the gap and a driver like James doesn’t make many mistakes.” Sutton, meanwhile, was equally impressed with his rival. “I’m a big fan of Ben’s driving: very clinical and controlled,” he said. Butcher slipped back a little in third, taking a well deserved podium after Meadows ran as a constant shadow. However, with the title uppermost in his mind, Meadows was not prepared to risk an attack on Butcher. “I was never going to make a big move,” he confirmed. “But I want to win the title by winning the second race,” he added. Andy Meyrick (Chester) fended off team-mate Richard Plant (Sheffield) to take fifth after a lengthy tussle.
It was Pierce (West Kilbride) who stormed ahead at the start in Pro-Am1, but Al Harthy (Oman) raced very hard to get ahead of Oly Mortimer (Edinburgh) and move in on Pierce. “Ahmad came up very strong,” said Pierce. “Then I had a big oversteer moment at Copse and that’s when he got the run on me to Becketts.”
With Victor Jimenez (Spain) up to third and chasing, Pierce fought back onto Al Harthy’s tail, but the Omani racer held on for an excellent Pro-Am1 victory. “I lost two places on the damp side of the track at the start, but I managed to carve my way through.”
There was also a close contest in Pro-Am2 as Denny (London) had to fend off a determined Will Goff (Dereham) for many laps. Eventually, Goff had a quick spin at Becketts when right on Denny’s tail and that resolved the battle in Denny’s favour. “Will was right there for a long time,” said Denny who later had a quick spin of his own, but held on for Pro-Am2 spoils.
Round 17 results:
Pro category: 1 Ben Barker; 2 James Sutton; 3 Rory Butcher.
Pro-Am1 category: 1 Ahmad Al Harthy; 2 Derek Pierce; 3 Victor Jimenez.
Pro-Am2 category: 1 Richard Denny; 2 Will Goff.
Round 18
Meadows won the 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup GB title in the best possible style with victory in round 18. Meadows set the pace from pole to put the title out of reach of his rivals with two races to go, while Al Harthy made it a great day for Redline Racing by clinching the Pro-Am1 title.
Meadows got the start he needed to head the pack into Copse, but he was immediately under major pressure as Jonas Gelzinis (Lithuania) and Butcher slotted into second and third. In fact, over the early laps a mighty nine-car train made a sensational sight at the head of the race, with the top three chased by Sutton, Plant, Barker and the Team Parker Racing trio Sam Tordoff, Meyrick and Daniel Lloyd.
Meadows really wanted to clinch the title with another victory and defended stoically in the face of a determined challenge from Gelzinis. Sutton was forced out on lap eight with an engine problem and Butcher moved ahead of Gelzinis to take up the pursuit of Meadows, who had been able to edge out a margin of around a second.
By mid-race, Plant had moved up to mount a fierce attack on Gelzinis and was finally able to squeeze ahead under braking for Copse after they ran side-by-side all the way from Luffield. But at the head of the pack, Meadows was driving superbly to control the pace as he tightened his grip on the title.
Then, with two laps to run Butcher was penalised five seconds for exceeding the track limits so Plant and Gelzinis moved up to complete the podium as the disappointed Butcher dropped to seventh in the final results.
“Today was a chance to win in style,” said Meadows, who had really wanted to settle the title with another race win after concentrating on scoring points over the second half of the season. “I’m relieved we’ve done it.”
Plant was justifiably delighted with a fighting drive that was rewarded with second place and the ‘Driver of the Weekend’ award. “We’ve had an up and down year and that result is exactly what I needed,” he said. Gelzinis raced hard for third, while Barker fended off Tordoff and Meyrick to take fourth.
Al Harthy was the class of Pro-Am1 and secured the category title in a style that mirrored his Redline Racing team-mate Meadows. “The perfect way to do it,” said Al Harthy as his result helped Redline Racing earn the ‘Team of the Weekend’ award. Mortimer and Pierce completed the Pro-Am1 podium after a race-long battle, while Goff claimed Pro-Am2 as rival Denny retired after a first corner tangle.
Round 18 results:
Pro category: 1 Michael Meadows; 2 Richard Plant; 3 Jonas Gelzinis.
Pro-Am1 category: 1 Ahmad Al Harthy; 2 Oly Mortimer; 3 Derek Pierce.
Pro-Am2 category: 1 Will Goff.
Meadows and the Redline Racing team now focus on the final two races of the season at Brands Hatch on October 21, as there is still work to be done. “I want to go out on a high in the final two races at Brands Hatch. We’ve still got the Teams’ Championship to fight for, which is really important for Redline. Everyone loves the Brands GP circuit and everyone will want to finish the season in style, but the pressure is off now the title is won.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment