>>Bridgman storms to double Carrera Cup pole at Oulton Park | 30 May 2009 Tim Bridgman maintained his unbeaten run of pole positions in the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB when he set a stunning pace to take pole for rounds seven and eight at Oulton Park today (Saturday 30 May 2009). In a sensationally fast session, Derek Pierce and Robert Lawson shared the pro-am1 poles, but the biggest revelation was the pace of leading pro-am2 racer Karl Leonard who took fourth overall for both grids. The cool morning air and bright sunshine combined to help make it the fastest ever Carrera Cup qualifying session at Oulton Park and Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) finally left the mark at 1m22.207s, nearly a second and half faster than ever before in the championship. With a second fastest lap of 1m22.528s, Bridgman also set pole for round eight to make it eight poles from eight races in 2009. "I'm amazed at the lap times," admitted Bridgman. "You're rewarded with commitment here and I knew there was a big chunk of time to be found after testing." Second fastest for both races was Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance), but the three-tenths of a second gap to Bridgman is a significant factor ahead of round seven later this afternoon. "It was a shock; the pace was unbelievable," said Caine. James Sutton (Red Line Racing) ran strongly on his least favourite track to be fourth and then third on the two grids, but the sensation of qualifying was Karl Leonard (RSS Performance), who pushed his 2006-model 911GT3 Cup car right up into the very front of the times. "I knew there was more time in me, and I've only ever been here once before," said Leonard. "The car was brilliant; RSS gave me a great car." James Sutton (Red Line Racing) ran strongly on his least favourite track to be fourth and then third on the two grids, but the sensation of qualifying was Karl Leonard (RSS Performance), who pushed his 2006-model 911GT3 Cup car right up into the very front of the times. "I knew there was more time in me, and I've only ever been here once before," said Leonard. "The car was brilliant; RSS gave me a great car." Singleton earned his weekend in the VIP car as one of the six finalists in the Carrera Cup GB Scholarship, and showed excellent pace. "That was a big improvement and I feel that I'm on the pace now; my aim was to be top eight," said Singleton. The JHR team topped the pro-am1 times, with Pierce seventh overall for the first race from Lawson and the positions then reversed for the second race. "It was a great session and I really got into it," said Pierce, who ran as high as fourth overall at one point. In a tightly packed pro-am1 group, Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing), Tony Gilham (Red Line Racing), Ollie Jackson (Motorbase Performance) and Michael Leonard (Team Parker Racing) packed out the top six in pro-am1. While Karl Leonard dominated pro-am2, the contest for second will be between Bob Lyons (Celtic Speed) and Glenn McMenamin (Parr Motorsport). - Ends - << back to news