With just four races left the 2022 title chases in both the Petro-Canada Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli and Porsche Club Motorsport Boxster cup are getting tense, and, Saturday September 17th, could prove pivotal.
In the Porsche Club Championship Colin Tester heads the overall points and his well clear of his class rivals, with class one pace setter Pete Morris second overall, but each racer has to drop two scores come season’s end, so there is still all to play for.
Morris took his third win of the season in his 997 C2S last time out at Silverstone, and knows he needs to keep scoring well to sustain his title challenge. Kevin Harrison sits 12 points behind with his 996 C2, another to win at Silverstone and always on the pace at Brands Hatch, and a driver to watch off the line as he usually gains places early on.
Third in the points is Simon Clark, already a winner four times this season and on a charge after missing the visit to Brands Hatch earlier in the season, making very point now precious as he has two zero scores to drop. Best placed of the Cayman runners is Chris Dyer in fourth, a winner at Oulton Park in July.
Two drivers returning in Caymans are 2021 champion Matt Kyle-Henney, who showed his pace when out at Oulton Park in July, and James Caley, racing the car usually driven by son Bill. James was side-lined by a heavy testing incident at Silverstone last month so great to have him back in action.
Tester has been at the front in class two in his Boxster S all season, only once failing to finish on the podium and taking five wins from the ten races to date. The class is dominated by Boxster’s and Andrew Porter, in his first season of Porsche Club racing, is shaping up as Tester’s closest rival in the points, and while a podium visitor has yet to take a win this season.
Angus Archer took two wins at Brands Hatch last season so should be one to watch in the two races, and he sits just one point ahead of Paul Simpson, another regular front-runner. Oliver Chatham claimed his first podium finish at Silverstone and will be eager to build from there, while drivers such as Carl Hazelton and Julian Morris are overdue a podium visit.
Having been a race winner in class two this year before stepping up to class one, Bill Caley has reverted to a Boxster for this meeting and will be taking on the class regulars.
The Porsche Club Motorsport Boxster Cup championship points see a tie for the lead with just two meetings left, Mike Thompson and Pete Evans topping the table on identical scores.
Thompson has sat at the top of the points for much of the season thanks to a remarkably consistent season, but a run of form from Pete Evans, winner of four of the last five races, has seen him close the gap and the two are now set for an end of season showdown. Thompson was strangely off the pace last time out at Silverstone and will need to stay with Evans today to keep the points pressure on.
Darren King sits in third, a remarkable performance in his first season of racing, and took the win is just his third race in the series, here at Brands Hatch in April. His team-mate Darren Labbett sits in fourth with two wins to his name, another relative newcomer who won the season-opening race at Donington Park while still displaying a novice cross on his car!
A newcomer to hit the ground running is Shiraz Khan, who took a second-place finish at Silverstone last month in just his fourth race and will be keen to show he can do it again today. Wayne Gregory was another to take his best finish of the season on the famous Grand Prix circuit, a second place in race two backing up a pair of thirds earlier in the season.
Faye Noble-Evans has been in the thick of the action as part of the United Racing team alongside husband Pete Evans, getting up to speed in her first season of racing. Another with pace is Sarah Thomson, who impressively took pole at Snetterton in June.
Steven Shore won the second race of the season at Donington Park and has pace, though missed Brands Hatch earlier in the season and then didn’t race at Oulton Park after an issue in qualifying. Simon Ruffell-Ward is another regular, and due a podium finish in a consistent season.
Boxster Cup qualifying is at 09.00 with the two 25-minute races at 11.55 and 16.05, while Porsche Club Championship racers qualify at 09.55 and race at 13.55 and 17.15.
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