Having been drawn in by the title of this article it’s highly likely you’re someone who likes to drive your car at speed, perhaps taking part in trackdays and when you are not driving your Porsche, you like to keep an eye on the world of motorsport. You may have a classic air cooled or water-cooled model or perhaps a fairly recent model, a Boxster, Cayman, or possibly even a GT4 or GT3?
If you have done a few trackdays you may well now be scratching your head thinking what next? Trackdays are great fun, exciting and challenging and are a marvellous way to get to know the capability of your road car. But, as good as Trackdays are, they do not have any sort of competitive aspect, and you may now be ready for a new challenge, something different.
Racing with the Club is brilliant but it requires a very significant commitment of both time and money to campaign a car in a full race championship and for many people that’s too great a step from their trackday experience, so what can you do? Well, as a member of Porsche Club GB, you have access to our Hillclimb and Sprint Championship in which you can drive your own car against the clock at marvellous venues around the country but with much less commitment and expense than racing.
The PCGB Speed Championship
The PCGB Speed Championship is contested over a number of Hillclimbs and Sprints around the country. Each of these takes the form of a number of timed runs and the quickest car in classes split by power (bhp) wins on the day. All competitors score points which go towards the overall championship results.
Sprints are usually held on race circuits such as Castle Combe or Snetterton and Hillclimb’s take place on a number of often picturesque historic courses such as Prescott and Shelsley Walsh in the midlands.
The cars being driven vary hugely with standard road cars appearing such as Boxsters, Caymans and GT cars alongside modified cars of all types including classic air cooled 911s and quick water-cooled models. What makes the sport so attractive is that just about any car can be used and be competitive.
So how do you get started?
The first step is to talk to one of the Club’s Motorsport contacts who can help guide you through just a few initial simple steps in order to be able to take part. For example, you will need a Motorsport Licence, however it’s not one that requires a medical and can be completed online. You will need a race suit, helmet and gloves, but these do not need to be the most expensive and then apart from a few minor things that should be done to an otherwise standard road car like fitting a removable beam splitter to record your start/stop time you are pretty much ready to go.
In the 2024 season the championship will seek to allow cars with some level of modification to compete as road cars, as long as they are indeed road legal with full tax and MOT and as ever, all modified cars are welcome and will sit on one or other of the power classes. Hence if you have been doing trackdays and have made some slight changes to improve the performance of your Porsche, this will not prohibit you from entering the Speed Championship as a road legal car.
Details of how to register and the necessary requirements and key contacts can be found in the Speed section of the Porsche Club Motorsport web site, porscheclubgb.com/motorsport. You can also email speed@porscheclubgb.com
Is it Very Serious?
The Speed Championship is just that, a closely fought Championship with exciting battles taking place among the classes but, and it’s a key point, it’s also a lot of fun, a friendly and accessible branch of motorsport that is well organised and very, very popular across the UK.
Does it cost a Lot?
No. Of course it’s got its costs, registration and event fees, but you will not use lots of fuel on track and you can drive a car in standard road going condition and on road tyres. The personal kit, such as helmet, race suit and gloves should amount to hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.
But I get a lot of track time on Trackdays?
Trackdays do give you a huge amount of track time for your money. Sprint and Hillclimbs will not give you anything like that amount of time but that really is missing the point.
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In the Speed championship you have a day (or sometimes two) of activity punctuated by scrutineering (safety check of car) practice, and timed runs with the chance to grab lunch and copious hot drinks in-between.
Drivers must reflect on their performance and plan how to improve with each timed run, showing those improvements in quicker times, or not if they get it wrong of course! I can say from personal experience of driving my own car in the Championship for many years it’s a bit addictive, the reflection, the accuracy and concentration needed to launch a car consistently quickly and to complete a course in the best possible time is a rewarding and yes sometimes frustrating experience as you try ever harder to be the best you and your car can be. Add to that the very real social side in the Club Championship and it’s a very attractive prospect for any person new to motorsport.
So, why not look into the Speed Championship, it might well be the next step you, and your car have been looking for!