Tim Harvey justified his decision to return to Porsche Carrera Cup racing for a final time in 2011, by winning the GB element of the Porsche Carrera World Cup at the Nurburgring on Saturday.

Harvey unexpectedly withdrew mid-season from the championship last month and handed his drive to scholarship winner Kieran Vernon after a lacklustre start to his title defence. However, he made a point of stating that he would take back his seat for the World Cup race and certainly didn’t disappoint on his return. The Motorbase driver used all of his racing experience to master treacherous conditions and finish 13^th overall and first of the Carrera Cup GB runners.

Steady rain before the start of the race left the 14-mile track very wet and slippery for the 98-car field contesting the biggest one-make Porsche race in history. The grid was split into three groups of 911 GT3 Cup cars for the rolling start, with race results determined on elapsed time.

Harvey and Stephen Jelley benefitted from starting near the front of the second grid as it meant a clearer track ahead of them and less spray to hamper their visibility. Harvey bided his time behind Jelley during the first couple of laps while he explored the amount of grip available before making a move ahead and pulling clear.

He was elated with his performance and said: “That’s the one you want to win. This was the big one and it is a wonderful feeling. It was about being safe on the first lap because I’d never driven a racing lap here in the wet. The car from Motorbase was easy to drive and once I got past Stephen I was able to pull away. It’s been a fantastic event and one of the best race meetings I can remember.”

Jelley was passed for second on the final lap for by Rory Butcher but a 30 second time penalty for the Celtic Speed driver for an infringement under yellow flags, saw him drop to fourth in the final standings. Despite this he was still able to claim victory in Pro-Am1.

Butcher’s penalty promoted Sam Tordoff to third, his first podium finish of the season. He said: “The first aim was to get to the finish. This is the best track in the world in the dry and the scariest in the wet, and you do have to respect it.”

Derek Pierce was fifth and second in Pro-Am1 after a strong performance. He said: “There’s not even a scratch on the car. That was the toughest race I’ve ever had.”

Michael Meadows was sixth ahead of Jonas Gelzinis, Richard Plant and Alex Martin.

Richard Denny was tenth but crucially he was the only Pro-Am2 driver to make the finish and so took the first category win of his career.

Championship leader and pole sitter James Sutton failed to finish after crashing out on the opening lap of the race which means his lead to Stephen Jelley in the drivers’ standings is now just seven points.

The series resumes at Snetterton on the weekend of the 6^th/7^th of August.

Tom Surgay is the Porsche Carrera Cup GB correspondant for 2011. Tom's currently studying English Language with Journalism at Huddersfield University. You can contact him at tom@btcccrazy.co.uk or on twitter @tsurgay.