We had four different winners in the two Porsche Club Motorsport Championship with Pirelli & Porsche Club Motorsport AM Championship with Pirelli races at the scenic Anglesey circuit on May 10th, Mark and Jake McAleer taking the Club Championship honours while Darren Labbett and Wane Gregory claimed their first AM category wins of the year.
Porsche Club Motorsport Championship with Pirelli &
Porsche Club Motorsport AM Championship with Pirelli
Race One
It took two starts to get the opening Porsche Club Motorsport Club Championship with Pirelli race underway, the first start red flagged at the end of the opening lap after a multi-car incident at Rocket corner. After a delay it was a shortened race, the grid already missing reigning champion Simon Clark who had a gearbox issue in qualifying as well as the cars caught up incident.
Jake McAleer got away well at the restart from pole position and led in the first corner, Pete Morris from the second row also a quick starter but ultimately having to settle for third behind Mark McAleer. Over the first few laps the lead pair eased away in their 997s, Morris coming under pressure from the Caymans of Ed Hayes and Colin Tester.
In the middle of the race Mark McAleer pushed hard and closed back to within a second of the leader, but Jake upped his pace once more and stayed clear to take his third win in the first three races of the season. The battle for third was a highlight of the race, Morris holding off Hayes and Tester to take his first podium finish of the season.
I finally got a start right!” joked Jake McAleer, “all I needed was a practice go! Really unfortunate we had the early incident, you never want that, but good to get away well. I thought we had a gentleman’s agreement, but dad closed right up on me, and I had to keep pushing, it was so hot out there and the car was great.”
“I closed up on him but probably pushed too hard- I couldn’t let him just walk away with it!” said Mark McAleer. “I’m worried that we don’t have the tyres for race two, but that was good fun.”
“Great to be back on the podium, it’s been a year!” said Morris. “I had a great battle with Ed Hayes, he had his Cayman really hooked up and it was quick.”
Oliver Chatham made the best start of the Porsche Club Motorsport AM Championship field, leading Darren Labbett at the end of lap one with Andrew Porter running third. By lap three Chatham was almost a second clear, though Labbett then kept that gap constant over the next few laps.
Jason Brown was closing on in Porter and right with him by lap five, and soon it was a three-car battle for second, Labbett with his fellow Boxster races wight with him. The race changed on lap 13 as Chatham slowed early in the lap, a suspected engine issue, Labbett going in the lead exiting Church corner with Porter second, and Wayne Gregory closing in on third-placed Brown.
As his gap grew at the front, it was the three Boxsters fighting for third who provided the entertainment, Gregory pushing hard to find a way past Brown. Reigning champion Labbett took his first win of 2025, Porter second from Brown with Gregory fourth, the latter three covered by less than a second.
“Ollie and I were pulling away, and then he started slowing,” said Labbett. “I hope it isn’t terminal for him, I’d have preferred to win having had a fight with him.”
“I didn’t expect second, today is going all right!” said Porter. “It was such a good race but after three minutes I wanted it to be over, I had to hold him off all race – nice clean racing.”
Race Two
Jake McAleer was on pole for race two later in the afternoon, but it was Mark McAleer who made the better start and took the lead. It was a train of cars at the front early on, Jake McAleer second from Hayes, Morris, and Chris Dyer the lead pair opening gap only for Hayes to start closing back in on Jake McAleer.
Dyer moved past Morris and into fourth on lap five, and on the same lap Hayes set fastest race lap to date in his pursuit of Jake McAleer. That spurred the second place 997 to close in on the leader once more, Hayes in turn extending the gap back to Dyer and Morris.
At the end of his 15th lap Jake McAleer peeled off into the pitlane with a gearbox issue, Hayes now second and a closing on the leader, though Mark McAleer responded to stay clear until the end for his first win of 2025 and the fourth in four races for the McAleer family. With Hayes second and Dyer third it was two Caymans on the podium, Morris fourth and Tester fifth.
“It seemed like the whole race I had a car in my mirrors, first it was Jake then Ed Hayes,” said McAleer. “I was struggling with tyres in this heat, had to make the most of the car and defend where Ed was strong – but hey, four wins for the McAleer’s!”
“That was great fun, pleased to run with the usual front guys,” said Hayes. “My car was good in all the tricky bits and there were quick on the straights, we are getting the car into a good place.”
“I had the pace so went past Pete Morris early on,” said Dyer, then later on his tyres were better and he came back at me. We are still developing the Cayman, not sure we had it quite right for round here.”
With Chatham absent from the grid it was Labbett who was the early AM championship leader, team-mate Gregory in second with Porter third from Tom Andrew and Brown. Labbett was pushing hard and managed to keep a Club Championship runner between himself and the rest early on, Gregory trying hard to close in.
By lap seven Gregory was right behind Labbett, a gap now back to Porter who was working hard to hold off Andrew and Brown. A lap later and it was Gregory ahead, leading an AM Championship race for the first time, and that became a large lead as a moment for Labbett on lap 12 saw him fall to fifth in class.
Gregory stayed clear to take his first win having won the Boxster Cup last season, Porter second having finally opened a gap on Andrew. Labbett recovered to fourth and just half a second down on Andrew by the end, Brown taking fifth in class.
“I was able to do a slingshot move on Darren to get past him at the top of the hill,” said Gregory. “It was then just a case of trying to stay ahead, I was amongst the Club class runners, and they were quicker on the straight, but I could gain it back in the corners. I had a gap, but it didn’t feel like a quiet race. I was looking behind so much!”
“That was just a copy of race one, they were all over me like wasps!” said Porter. “I can’t believe I kept them all behind, I never had a second to settle, the race seemed a lifetime – I was so happy to see the flag!”
“That was hard work,” said Andrew, “this is a new car for us so still trying to get to grips with it, but he never really offered me a clear opportunity, close enjoyable racing.”
Porsche Club Motorsport Championship with Pirelli
Race One:
1 Jake McAleer (997 C2S) 16 Laps
2 Mark McAleer (997 C2S) +2.866s
3 Pete Morris (997 C2S)
4 Ed Hayes (Cayman S)
Fastest Lap: Mark McAleer 1m13.973s (75.43mph).
Race Two: 1 Mark McAleer (997 C2S) 20 Laps
2 Ed Hayes (Cayman S) +1.343s
3 Chris Dyer (Cayman S)
4 Pete Morris (997 C2S)
Fastest Lap: Hayes (1m14.150s (75.25mph).
Porsche Club Motorsport AM Championship with Pirelli
Race One:
1 Darren Labbett (Boxster S) 16 Lap
2 Andrew Porter (Boxster S) +2.580s
3 Jason Brown (Boxster S)
4 Wayne Gregory (Boxster S)
Fastest Lap: Oliver Chatham (Boxster S) 1m15.645s (73.76mph)
Race Two:
1 Wayne Gregory (Boxster S) 20 Laps
2 Andrew Porter (Boxster S) +18.098s
3 Tom Andrew (Boxster S)
4 Darren Labbett (Boxster S)
Fastest Lap: Wayne Gregory (Boxster S)1m16.266s (73.16mph).
Porsche Club Motorsport Boxster Cup
Two action packed Porsche Club Motorsport Boxster Cup races on the Anglesey Coastal circuit on Saturday May 10th were a highlight of the day, with Perry Darling and Mike Thompson each taking their first win of the 2025 season and each race featuring charging drives from the back of the grid.
Race One
A healthy grid of Boxsters lined up for the first of their two 25-minute races, and from pole it was Perry Darling who led the field away, Mike Thompson slotting into second. Barrington Darcy was third and right with Thompson early on, Brendan Haffner next up ahead of the charging Scott Evans.
Evans was into fourth by the end of lap two, and closed on Darcy going past through Church only to lose out at the next corner as Darcy reclaimed the place. Heading into lap six Evans looked inside Darcy at the first corner and was past by the end of the lap, their battle joined by the flying Bertie Bream, who had stormed up the order from the back of the grid.
Thompson was right with Darling through the latter half of the race but despite his best efforts it was Darling ahead by a quarter of a second at the end. Behind, Evans was third while Bream, who had gone off on lap 12, was moving up the order again and took two places on the final lap to claim fourth.
“Mike made that a tough race,” said Darling. “I was looking in my mirrors more than ahead at times! He was quicker in some places, I had the advantage in others, a really good race.”
“I had to keep him honest, such a good battle” said Thompson, “I was throwing everything I had at him, but he never gave me a clear chance, and drove really well. I really enjoyed that – brilliant racing!”
“That was mega,” said Evans. “The car has always been quick, but we have had reliability issues, but it went well today, and I always love a podium!”
Race Two
Darling was on pole again for race two and appeared to make a good getaway but lost places to Thompson and Evans on the opening lap. Darcy was fourth from Ben Grewcock, the leaders pushing hard knowing Bream would be on another climb up the order in the early laps.
Thompson opened a gap as Evans started to come under pressure from Darling, Bream’s progress slowed as he worked his way through the quicker runners, but he was still climbing the order, sixth at the end of lap nine and right with Haffner. From around the mid-point of the race Evans started to close on Thompson, the pair together over the final five laps.
Evans looked to get past at Rocket on the final lap, Thomson holding on to take his debut 2025 win. Behind, Bream had taken third from Darling with three laps to go but couldn’t close the gap on the leaders, Tony Levy gaining places late on to take a fine fifth.
“I had to work so hard, I’d run out of things in the arsenal, and I thought he was going to have me,” said Thompson. “Every time I came out the hairpin, I was praying I’d get a good exit, and was just wanting to see the chequered flag!”
“Racing against Mike it is always clean, and he had no chink in his armour today,” said Evans. “It was good just to follow him and learn things, he was much more experience in the Boxster than I do, a phenomenal race!”
“It was an eventful race, had to just pick cars up one by one,” said Bream. “I set myself the goal of getting on the podium and made it, pleased to take fastest lap as well. The further up I got everyone was quicker and you had to work more to take places.”
Porsche Club Motorsport Boxster Cup
Race One:
1 Perry Darling (Boxster S) 19 Laps
2 Mike Thompson (Boxster S) +0.228s
3 Scott Evans (Boxster S)
4 Bertie Bream (Boxster S).
Fastest Lap: Bream (Boxster S) 1m18.781s (70.82mph).
Race Two:
1 Mike Thompson 19 Laps
2 Scott Evans (Boxster S) +0.375s
3 Bertie Bream (Boxster S)
4 Perry Darling (Boxster S)
Fastest Lap: Bertie Bream 1m18.479s (81.10mph).
Next Races: Brands Hatch, Kent, May 24th, 2025