OXFORDSHIRE racing driver Tim Harvey's slender title chances slipped away as he scored a fighting second place during rounds 17 and 18 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent.

Harvey was racing for Motorbase Performance in the prestigious race series for identical 400bhp, 170mph racing Porsches, which is a key support race to the MSA British Touring Car Championship. His Porsche is backed by Datapulse and Porsche Centre Solihull.

Harvey was right on the pace in qualifying and posted a time that was only two-hundredths of a second off the pole position time of Danny Watts (Buckingham). "To be two-hundredths of a second off pole is OK, but the times here are slower than when we were here in April. Maybe the track is still a bit green after all the rain we had on Friday."

In the opening race, Harvey slotted straight into second place between Watts and championship leader Damien Faulkner (Co Donegal), and that was how it stayed.

"The first 15 or 20 laps of the race were a bit of a status quo. After that, we lost a little bit of tyre performance," he said. Although Watts just edged clear over the final ten laps, Harvey successfully fended off Faulkner to claw two championship points back from his rival.

Harvey's luck worsened in the second race when a brush with Faulkner left him with a front puncture and he had to make a pit-stop for a wheel change. Although he rejoined the race, his slender title chances were gone and he is now likely to end the season as championship runner-up to Faulkner.

The season concludes at Silverstone over the weekend of October 14/15.