Rounds Ten and Eleven of the Speed Championship

Rounds 10 and 11 already!  The Championship race is now fully on with several drivers looking at a possible overall title.
 
Castle Combe Sprint Round 10
 
After a meeting at the PCGB offices I made my way to my campsite on the edge of Cirencester. Lovely site, with a Brewery making cider on the doorstep next to a pizza restaurant!  Weirdly, as I was walking to said pizza restaurant and more than ready for a cider or two, I noticed the unexpected form of a camel in the distance, yes, a camel!
 
I should point out this was before the cider!  Anyway, after standing very still and staring for a while it eventually revealed itself to be a life-sized model!  I have no idea why it was there, but it ensured I will remember that campsite for the future, good marketing!
 
After an early start I arrived at the circuit just as the weather became a bit overcast and spots of rain were seen on the car windscreens. it wasn't enough to wet the track, but it always tugs on the nerves a bit if it happens while you are waiting to go out.
 
We had 16 drivers in 14 cars, two shared drives, and a spread of experience from those that know the place really well to a few for whom the circuit was a new challenge.
 
Practice


 
One practice and three scoring timed runs was the format for the day.
In P1 Tim Barber was quickest in the GT3 shared with David Hilton. On the pace from the off with a time of 65.54 seconds, and a little under 2 seconds ahead of David.
 
We had two P2 runners, Simon Carr and Nigel Watkins. Nigel was quickest in the fiery 996 with a 68.97 practice. Jon Baldock, always quick at his home circuit in the Boxster, led the P3 field in practice with a 68.31 second run. a few seconds ahead of Graham Rose and the Supercharged 924s.
 
The largest class of the day was P4 with six drivers taking part. It was nearly five after Jake Cartwright's tow vehicle let him down on the way to the circuit but a heroic effort from John Baldock and Claudia Jedrisko rescued him and his rig and ensured he got to the circuit on time. Sportsmanship at its best alive and well in the Speed Championship!
 
Stephen Jory, defending champion and in the running again this year with the 944 was quickest in P4 practice with a great 70.38 second time. His close rival Martin Leach and the 911E wasn't far behind though and Stephen knew he needed his best form to hold on to the lead in the later scoring runs. Jake Cartwright overcame the stresses of the day before to be third in the class with his Boxster at the end of practice, less than a second behind Martin, well in touch.
 
Scoring Timed Runs
 
Three scoring timed runs allows some experimentation in lines, braking points etc but not much and a safe 'banker' run is always a wise move.
 
In P1 Phil James (GT4) and Wayne Helme (718 GT4) had their own battle with both drivers achieving quick runs, close on the clock but with Phil having PDK 2% correction it in part swung third place in P1 in Wayne's favour, however with a best of 68.04 seconds Wayne had improved no less than 5.92 seconds to make that result possible.
 
Tim Barber took the P1 class win with his last and best run in 64.21 seconds, pushed hard by David Hilton who in the same car was just a little slower to take second place in the class in 64.76 seconds.
 
Nigel Watkins survived a spot of 'tourism' on the grass at the famous Quarry corner on his second scoring run to take the P2 class win from Simon Carr and his Cayman with a great 67.17 second run, his first after practice.
 
Jon Baldock maintained roughly a second advantage from his P3 rivals in his scoring runs to take the class win with a fine 67.25 second run time. Graham Rose had worked to reduce his time on each run with his best the final run, a 68.34 second time to take second in P3.  Eoin Card has been quietly forging ahead at events this year, learning and speeding up as he does so. His 68.88 second best run in the road going Cayman earned him a well-deserved third place in P3.
 
Finally, P4. Simon Cristol who was share driving the road going Boxster with Ian, was some 7.6 seconds quicker than his first run of the day at the close of play to take 4th place. Jake Cartwright and his Boxster was in the same second as Martin Leach for two of the three scoring runs, his best a quick 69.78 seconds time good enough to grab third place in the class. Martin managed a 69.34 run on his last effort, improving by nearly a second but it wasn't enough to topple Stephen Jory who took the class win with a brilliant 67.16 time.
 
Goodwood Sprint Round 11
 
With just a week since Castle Combe the championship arrived at the iconic Goodwood circuit on a glorious sunny and warm early morning promising grip and great lap times.
 
I had a little time in hand, so I walked to the aircraft hangers in the infield where two stunning Spitfire WW11 aircraft sat glinting in the early morning light. After a chat with the pilots (great way to start the day eh!) I wandered over the paddock where 13 Porsche cars and drivers were waiting to head out onto their first run, a single practice on the super quick Goodwood circuit.
 
The Goodwood circuit is one of those special and memorable drives, where the speed builds and builds and the track just begs you to go faster. You need to have your wits front and centre though as with that speed comes risk, not a lot of run off and some tricky braking zones plus a chicane which has claimed a few errant drivers along the way, me included!


 
Practice
 
The cars all got the through the usual tight static noise test (more on that later!) and headed out for their single practice with a slightly cooler and cloudier sky over the circuit. Perfect driving conditions!
 
Stephen Jory is becoming known as the "Carry Speed Expert" and with a practice time of 96.64 seconds he laid down a seriously high target for the others in P4 to aim for. Martin leach was closest with a 102 second run and Hannes Tanzer, in a fully road going Boxster third with a 105.73. The others in the class were not running at all slowly, Stephen was simply flying and it was clear this was a day for he and 944 to push the limits, and he did just that!
 
Essentially two classes of car were running in P3 at Goodwood. Jon Baldock, in his modified Boxster and Eoin Card and Chris Milne, both in road going models driven to the circuit. Jon was quickest in practice by some margin with a tine of 97.03 seconds. Eoin and Chris had their own tussle, with Eoin ending practice second quickest in the class with a 101.08 second time.
 
Russell Lloyd joined us in P2 at Goodwood with his Boxster and driving alongside Simon Carr and Nigel Watkins, he wisely initially took it easy on his first competitive visit to the circuit. Such a fast circuit needs some confidence building before you go about pressing the loud pedal to its fullest extent. But, having done so myself, I can confirm that when you do few others give you the same sensation of speed as Goodwood does.
 
Nigel Watkins was again quick in his practice run, the 996 dispatching the course in just 95.60 seconds, and Simon Carr managed a time of 101.47 seconds despite his car starting to hint at having a running problem.
 
Tim Barber and David Hilton in the GT3 were both impressive in P1 practice , Tim leading the pair with a 93.29 time and David a little over a second behind. Phil James took his road going GT4 to a solid first run of 101.08 seconds.
 

Scoring Timed Runs
 
Tim Barber put all the elements together on his second scoring attempt with a stunning 88.10 second time, a new class and Championship record at the circuit with the big car looking planted and secure even at those speeds. David Hilton was second in P1 with a best of 91.70 seconds, happy to have brought the car home after a spin at Madgwick corner, not an ideal choice of place for a wander off line!   Phil James was third in class his first scoring run his best and just over 99 seconds after the PDK correction of 2% was applied to his time.
 
Our P2 class had what might have been called 'a bad day' after Nigel Watkins had scored the class winning time of 97.36 seconds in his 996. Nigel was forced to retire after that run due to his noise readings being a bit too high. A technical issue, but not one the circuit can do anything about. His first time was enough to win the class from Simon Carr who himself had to withdraw after his car's running issued developed into a smoking one, too much to continue. Simon was second in P2 ahead of Russell Lloyd who, after a conservative first run went on to record a much quicker best of 101.15 seconds to take third in P2.
 
Chris Milne put in a great P3 third run time of 97.83 seconds in the Boxster to win third in the class. Eoin Card pulled out a near two second improvement in his scoring runs to end the day second in P3 with a 96.98, with both Chris and Eoin on road tyres and in full road spec, again proving how well the road cars go. Winning P3 by a couple of seconds, Jon Baldock and the Boxster broke the timing beam first in P3 in 95 seconds dead on his second scoring run, a super quick time on the 220-280hp class.
 
Stephen took the P4 class win with his final run of the day, a stunning 93.54 second time. Martin Leach drove hard in the 911E but couldn't match the Stephen Jory/944 combination, however he still managed a swift 97.24 second time to take second in class. Hannes Tanzer, in a 981 Cayman, and Ian Cristol, in a Boxster, each found around two seconds on their last runs to end the day 3rd and 4th in P4.
 
Two great events, brilliant driving and close results and now just three rounds remain in the Championship. We are at Snetterton Circuit on 23rd & 24th August before our final round, the season closer at Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb on 13th September. See you there?
 
 
Simon Wilson
Championship Coordinator
Porsche Club GB
simonwilson@porscheclubgb.com

Castle Combe Results Here

Goodwood Results Here

Championship Points Here