The 2020 Petro-Canada Lubricants Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli season finally starts at Snetterton in Norfolk on 11 July, with two 25-minute races and a healthy field that features no less than five reigning or former overall champions. 2019 champion Ross Morris will proudly race with the number one on the side of his Strassse-run class two Boxster S, but he has a host of very determined rivals aiming to dethrone him over the ten-race schedule.
Class one looks to be as competitive as ever with former champions Pete Morris, father of champion Ross, and Mark McAleer both out in 997s, the most modern of the Porsche 911 variants allowed in the series, and the pair are proven race winners. Emphasising the variety of models in the class, Chris Dyer and Andy Toon have both won the title and the former will race at Snetterton in a Cayman S, which saw Dyer in race winning form last year, while Toon will challenge in his 996 C2.
Jake McAleer races a 996 C2 in class one, battling his father as well as his class rivals, and was another race winner in 2019, while Glen Broster returns and should be showing the pace that saw him only denied by mechanical issues last year. Simon Clark returns with his Cayman, and dominated at times last season, while we see a welcome return from the 997s of Del Brett and James Caley.
Last season class two provided some superb action, and Ross Morris could be under pressure from race one. James Coleman joined midway through the season and was an immediate winner, while Matt Kyle-Henney made his race debut in 2019, almost taking a win in his Boxster, and has been a pace-setter in the Club’s sim-racing series.
Andy Muggeridge is a familiar face to return, while newcomers include race debutant Bill Caley – making it three father and son combinations on the grid – Andy Baker and Charles Clark, the Boxster now being the car of choice in the class.
Running alongside the Porsche Club Championship contenders will be the Porsche Classic Boxster Cup runners, although their numbers have been hit this season in the aftermath of the pandemic that has swept the country. All racing identically built Boxsters, although on treaded tyres compared to the slicks of the Club Championship runners, Steven Shore returns and is joined by Mike Thompson, Barry Strong and Paul Simpson.
Qualifying at Snetterton is set for 9.00 on Saturday morning, with races at 11.50 and 17.20. The meeting will be run in accordance with the most recent Government advice and social distancing recommendations, and trophies will be handed out on the podium rather than in our own ceremony at the end of the day.