Anniversary Season Starts at Donington

The Porsche Club Motorsport race season starts at Donington Park this Sunday, April 21st, and it is a landmark one marking the 40th anniversary of the club’s long running premier race series – the Porsche Club Motorsport Championship with Pirelli. Having started this very weekend in 1984, the series has evolved over the years but continues to provide a home for racing Porsches with close, exciting racing.

Fittingly for such an anniversary the new season sees a few changes, with class two becoming the Porsche Club Motorsport AM Championship, drivers competing there for class success but the outright champion can now only come from the well-supported main class of the series. Also, new for 2024 is the addition of two new Porsche models to the list of permitted cars, the 2008-2012 models of the 997 C2S and the Cayman S.

Racing alongside the series will be the popular Woods Foodservice Porsche Club Motorsport Boxster Cup and their season starts with a strong entry and the usual intriguing mix of series regulars and exciting newcomers. With the whole field in closely matched 3.2 litre Boxsters and tyre usage tightly controlled to manage costs, it is all about driver talent and the series seldom fails to supply great racing.

Mark McAleer headed class one in the Club Championship last year although Donington wasn’t kind to him in 2023 and he left with no points after a race one incident, but the former double champion will be one to watch. Pete Morris is another former double champion always in the mix and a driver who goes well at Donington in his 997, while returning to the series is Simon Clark, also a previous champion and now aiming to win the class in his third different Porsche model. 

Out in a new Cayman 987.2 is last year’s overall champion Paul Simpson, stepping up from his class two Boxster to chase for outright race wins. In a class packed with quick drivers, father and son combination James and Bill Caley have both been on the top step of the podium before, as has Jake McAleer, son of Mark, a returnee to the series. 

The newly named Porsche Club Motorsport AM Championship with Pirelli replaces the old class two label but features the same cars and regulations and sees a mix of familiar faces and new additions, which always provides an entertaining opening few races as we discover who has the pace this year. Andrew Porter has been a race winner and Angus Archer another podium regular, but they are up against drivers such as Jonny Lovell, 2023 Boxster Cup champion now out to race on slicks with the Club for the first time.

Darren Labbett and Shiraz Khan stepped up from the Boxster Cup last year, Labbett getting on the podium and Khan right there in the races. Also moving up from the Boxster Cup is Jess Wilkinson, who only made her race debut at this meeting last year but impressively gained pace across the season. Newcomers Jamie Callendar and Jason Brown will be keen to mark their mark early.

In the Woods Foodservice Boxster Cup Mike Thompson returns having been runner-up in the series more than once in his Porsche Bolton Boxster and will be the benchmark for the rest, while Perry Darling is another back for more who was a podium regular in 2023. Faye Noble-Evans was third in the championship last season and will be another aiming for the top of the 2024 points table, to take the title claimed by husband Pete Evans in 2022.

Having missed most of 2023 Darren King and Wayne Gregory return for Unique Racing. Both proven front runners, they should be on the series pace immediately and factors in this weekend’s two races.

Sarah Thomson is another back for more in her distinctive yellow and red Boxster, and the Scots racer has shown her pace before including taking her maiden pole position in the series. Eric Bridges has also been part of the battle just behind the leaders many times, while Sarah Wood, who made her race debut in the opening round last year, returns under the Autofarm banner.

The Porsche Club Motorsport Championship and Porsche Club Motorsport AM Championship competitors run together, with Boxster Cup field having their own races. They each have two 25-minute races, and it should be a strong start to another great Porsche Club Motorsport race season.