Porsche Cup Brands Hatch 19/08/2007

Caine takes podium at Brands

Michael Caine claimed a podium finish for Paragon Porsche in round 16 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Brands Hatch in Kent on Sunday (19 August). The result puts Caine in a clear fourth place in the championship standings with four races left to run.

Newmarket racing driver Caine is racing for Sussex-based Paragon Porsche this season and in his 400bhp Porsche 911GT3 Cup car, which is prepared by Team Parker Racing.  

The weekend at Brands Hatch, the home track for Paragon, marked rounds 15 and 16 of the 20-race season and, after battling against some handling problems in the opening race, Caine drove an excellent race to take third place on Sunday and score his eighth podium finish of the season.  

However, during pre-race testing on Friday and in qualifying on Saturday, Caine and the team were working hard to try and find front-running pace. "I can't seem to get any grip, even when we put the new tyres on," said Caine. Those problems continued on Saturday in qualifying when he posted seventh fastest time, half a second away from pole position.  In the opening race at the end of Saturday afternoon, Caine worked through to fifth place and took the flag right on the tail of championship leader Steven Kane.   

Sunday's race started in dramatic style as Kane and Tim Harvey clashed at the first corner and while Kane spun, Harvey was sent into the gravel trap. Caine did well to avoid getting tangled up in the incident and emerged in third place. He then chased leaders James Sutton and Jon Barnes, staying within a second of the leaders for the entire race.  

The Carrera Cup action will now switch to Knockhill in Scotland over the weekend of 1/2 September.