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Motorsport

30 Apr 2019

Photos by Gary Hawkins

Popular Porsches Double Up at Brands Hatch

Porsche Club Championship Brands Hatch Race Preview - Round 2

The combined Petro-Canada Lubricants Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli and Classic Restoracing Championship fields have two races at Brands Hatch this weekend, Saturday June 4th, that should offer up some great action and close competition. For both series the season started two weeks ago at Donington Park where they had their own races, but this weekend should see 38-cars lining up for the two 25-minute races.
 
The Strasse squad from Leeds dominated the Porsche Club Championship at Donington, with former champions Pete Morris and Chris Dyer taking outright wins, Dyer his first in his Cayman S. Just to complete the team performance Ross Morris, son of Pete, took both class two wins in his Boxster S and currently heads the points table.
 
In qualifying it was the RVR (UK) Racing duo of Mark and Jake McAleer who set the pace, Mark taking pole in his new 997 with Jake alongside on his debut in the car his father used to take the 2017 title. While Mark was side-lined in race one with an engine issue, two podium finishes for Jake in the 996 announced his presence in the class and both will be keen to put on a show at Brands Hatch.
 
Cayman racers Simon Clark and Steve Cheetham both took podiums at Donington, and should be on the pace this weekend.
 
Ross Morris took the class two wins, but had been headed early on in the first race by rapid newcomer Dave Molyneux, who went off while leading. With Trevor Lewis and Angus Archer also both on the pace at Donington, the class action should be tight.
 
Ben McLoughlin won both the opening the Classic Restoracing Championship races of the season, despite a 30kg weight penalty due to his experience, and provides a good benchmark for the rest. Will Heslop in the ‘Pink Pig’ Boxster took second on each occasion, while some great battling for the final podium position was a highlight each race, with Matt Bird and Alistair Nelson taking a third place apiece.
 
The Restoracing cars will form up behind the Porsche Club Championship grid, and are a mix of experience and drivers like Heslop who made their race debut in last season’s six race series – plus now some 2019 newcomers on a rapid racing learning curve. The closely matched cars run on a Pirelli treaded tyre as opposed to the slick-shod Porsche Club Championship cars, but they showed last season they can at times nip at the heels of the class two cars.
 
The two races are part of an International GT weekend at Brands Hatch so the day should have the buzz of a big meeting with plenty of spectators, and constant track action. Qualifying is set for 09.00 on Saturrday, with races set for 11.55 and 17.00.