Pete Morris took two outright wins and Dave Botterill and Tim Speed shared Class Two honours as the Fuel Protect Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli runners put on a great show for the Motors TV live cameras at Donington Park. Both races were close and exciting all the way down the field, and a great reminder of how close and well-balanced the variety of Porsche models in the series are with race one seeing a 996 C2 head home a Boxter S and a Cayman S for the top three finishers.
Qualifying
A quick pit visit to adjust tyre pressures saw Gary Duckman make it two poles out of two on his return to the series, Morris second overall, his run in the final seconds of the session just falling short of Duckman’s time. Morris’s second best time was quicker that everyone else’s so he would be at the head of the grid for race two.
Craig Wilkins and Kevin Harrison were third and fourth quickest in their 996 C2s, with Mike Johnson just pipping Chris Dyer’s Cayman on the third row.
“I’m having to work for the poles!” said Duckman, “it’s all pretty tight and it should be a good race. I love this track and always enjoy racing here and have always gone well. I will behind to get a decent start, the 996s are great off the line so it will be hard to get a lead into the first corner, but that’s the plan!”
Steve Cheetham was for a long time quickest in Class Two, but got stranded in the pitlane with a throttle issue and Botterill went quicker before the end with Cheetham unable to respond.
Race One
Morris got the best start as the red lights went out, two lengths clear of Duckman into the first corner, but halfway round the first lap the lead pair were back together. These two were clear of Wilkins in third, who in turn headed Dyer, Harrison and Paul Winter.
They were greeted by the Safety Car at the end of lap two, Class Two front runner Cheetham having been nudged off at Redgate, and when racing resumed at the start of lap five it was again Morris who got the drop, only for Duckman to reel him back in before the end of the first lap of racing. As Morris held off Duckman’s Boxster S, Wilkins was under pressure from Dyer’s Cayman, with a train of four 996s close behind.
It was all change on lap nine as Dyer got inside Wilkins into the first corner while Duckman was quick through Schwantz and used the momentum to get inside Morris at McLeans. Duckman at one point was a second clear, but Morris closed back in again and was in front with two laps to go. Side-by-side over the line to start the final lap, Duckman got a good exit to McLeans and led into Coppice, but Morris was alongside on the exit and despite going onto the grass claimed the indie line for the chicane to win a great race by a tenth of a second.
Dyer held onto to third to give the Cayman S its first overall podium finish, with the multi-car battle behind going the way of Mike Johnson, who headed Harrison, McAleer and Wilkins, Winter slowing and pitting on the final lap.
“That was an amazing battle,” said Morris. “It was cracking race, we were so close for the whole 25-minutes, I had the legs of Gary Duckman down the straight, and I just kept my foot in when I was on the grass on the last lap. Loved that, we shook hands at the end and had both enjoyed the battle.”
“I was happy to be second at the start, I expected Pete Morris to be quicker off the line,” said Duckman. “I had hoped we would open a gap but the Safety Car really nullified things. I made a terrible start when racing resumed, but that worked for me as I then has a bit of clear track and could put in some quick laps to catch him and leave the others behind. We were swapping places in the last laps – at the end both of us had our rear tyres going, the Boxster was great through the medium to high-speed corners, but he was better out of the slower corners.”
“I had to work for that but great to get the Cayman on the podium,” said Dyer. “We decided to take a gamble on new tyres, and the grip was there right to the last lap – when it just went. I had been counting down the time and we had to work really hard for that, but so pleased after all our work on the car.”
The Class Two battle was just as exciting, Botterill and Evans swapping places throughout the race, and just like the contest at the front the duo crossed the line side-by-side going into the final lap. Their final lap was interrupted though by the flying Tim Speed who claimed second behind Botterill despite a lurid slide exiting the hairpin onto the pit straight for the run to the line.
“I got past Jonathan Evans at the restart, but lost it again on the straight,” said Botterill. “He did a really brave move to get past, and when I saw the lap board knew I really had to do something. I was surprised to see Tim Speed in my mirrors at the end, but that was a good race.”
Race Two
Somehow, race two was just as exciting, Duckman’s fear of getting swamped by the 996s off the line this time proving founded as he was just fourth into the first corner, Morris making the best start. By the end of the first lap Duckman was back with second placed Wilkins, while on lap two Richard Higgins had his 968 start streaming smoke as he slowed and retired on the main straight, making the surface there treacherous for the next few laps.
Morris was two seconds clear as Duckman looked for a way past Wilkins, the latter pair crossing the line side-by-side to start lap six, Wilkins holding the crucial inside line into the first corner. Duckman made it stick later that lap though, again alongside through Schwantz, but he had the inside line into McLeans and was through – and immediately started to close the gap on Morris.
As the leader’s advantage dished, a multi-car battle for fourth was the highlight. Harrison, Winter, McAleer and Dyer running close and jostling for position. By lap 13 Duckman was within half a second of Morris, his car stronger on the twisty first part of the lap but Morris with an advantage on the straight and past the pits.
As Duckman looked to go past, that allowed Wilkins to close in once more, and Duckman found himself again side-by-side in the first corner with his rival from earlier in the race on 18, this time the Boxster driver holding the inside and forcing Wilkins to slot in behind. With two laps left the top three were running right together, Duckman surviving going wide at the top of the Craner Curves to lose ground to Morris but claim second behind Morris with Wilkins a close third.
Behind, the battle for fourth went down to a cavalry charge out of the last corner, Harrison just holding off McAleer and Winter to take the slot, the trio just over half a second apart.
“I’ve been racing for a long time but I have never had to work as hard as this!” exclaimed Morris. “I paced myself at the beginning and we were both losing grip at the end, I just managed to keep them off and played to the advantages of my car, and keep ending up on the podium!”
“That was good fun,” said Duckman, “I knew I would struggle off the line and I managed to hold on and be in third, and a couple of laps in I got a good run on of Craig Wilkins out of Old Hall and down the inside into McLeans, I think we touched a little bit but we both survived, It took a while to reel Pete Morris in, and once I was there Craig closed back in – that was hard work defending but so good, I’ve had two fabulous races today.”
“That was much better than race one for us, even though we didn’t make any changes to the car,” said Wilkins. “I had a touch with Gary Duckman, but that was pretty much my fault, I thought I had left him enough room, but the guys on front looked to be struggling just a bit towards the end and I thought I could get back in there.”
Class Two was equally tense, Jonathan Evan leading for much of the race with Tim Speed and Botterill right with him. A shuffle of positions on lap 15 put Speed to the fore with Botterill, Toon, Cheetham and Evans behind, and the lead four split into pairs on the final laps, Evans going off at the chicane, with Speed taking the class win despite having to dodge onto the grass just before the line dodging a backmarker, with Botterill second ahead of Toon.
“That was touch-and-go all the way through,” said Speed, “good clean racing and all good fun, we were all very evenly matched. I was expecting my tyres to still be there at the end as I had been looking after them – and it paid off.”
Fuel Protect Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli Round Five (17 Laps): 1 Peter Morris (996 C2); 2 Gary Duckman (Boxster S) +0.105s; 3 Chris Dyer (Cayman S); 4 Mike Johnson (996 C2); 5 Kevin Harrison (996 C2); 6 Mark McAleer (996 C2); 7 Craig Wilkins (996 C2); 8 David Botterill (964 C2); 9 Paul Winter (996 C2); 10 Tim Speed (968 CS).Class Winners: Morris; Botterill. Fastest Lap: Morris, 1m16.637s (92.96mph).
Round Six (20 Laps): 1 Morris; 2 Duckman +1.853s; 3 Wilkins; 4 Harrison; 5 McAleer; 6 Paul Winter (996 C2); 7 Dyer; 8 Speed; 9 Botterill; 10 Andy Toon (968 CS). Class Winners: Morris; Speed. Fastest Lap: McAleer, 1m16.577s (93.03mph)
Next Races: Brands Hatch, Kent, August 1st