Porsche Club Speed Championship with Petro-Canada Lubricants
Round 10: Curborough Sprint Circuit (figure ‘8’ configuration)
Although Curborough Sprint Circuit is a relatively small track it is technically demanding and difficult to get right with many an experienced driver finding themselves unexpectedly thrown off the tarmac with very little run-off to prevent disaster.
Despite an unusually warm and dry August bank holiday weekend it transpired to be quite a slippery event with no less than six failed runs among the Porsche Club competitors. Fortunately, none of the incidents were too serious and, overall, it was an event of great weather, happy drivers and quick times.
Fifteen Championship drivers entered this round with Class P1 being made up of one entrant with Peter Taylor making the most of his 718 S Boxster to earn himself Fastest Porsche on the Day with a superb 62.88.
Four drivers made up Class P2 at Curborough, including Darren Slater driving his recently acquired Boxster S into third place with a cracking final run of 65.86. Just 0.37 seconds separated second and first in P2, with last year’s FTD winner Karl Lupton (Supercharged 944) taking second this time around in 63.93. Andy Fagan always bravely pushes his Boxster S as far as he dares at most rounds - usually it pays dividends and, despite two spins on the day, he still produced a class-winning time of 63.56.
Class P3 is the largest class in the Championship and there were eight P3 drivers entered at Curborough. It is always a pleasure to see Ian Wadsworth’s smart 911SC/RS being driven at any Speed event, particularly at Curborough where spectators have such a great view of the circuit and both Ian and son Nick always drive with real flair and precision. A fraction under one second separated Ian and Nick in their fastest times with Ian taking third in 65.17 while Nick took second place in 64.19. In first place for P3, with a 0.59 second advantage over Nick’s time was Justin Mather (supercharged 924S), one of the most consistently quick drivers in the Championship. Justin’s final time for first place was 63.60.
Martin Leach and Stephen Jory made up the competitors in Class P4 at Curborough. Martin had a finely composed and tidy final run to take second place in 67.68 in his pretty 911 E. Also driving with a great deal of consistency and finesse was Stephen Jory in his smartly prepped 2.5 litre 944. Stephen’s final time earned him first place in P4 in 66.29.