The Porsche Club Championship makes the first of its two visits to Oulton Park this weekend for rounds three and four of the championship on Saturday June 2nd, and if the race action is anywhere near as exciting as at the opening rounds at Brands Hatch in May - sportscar fans are in for a rare treat. Reigning champion Mark Sumpter won the opening race in his new 964 C2, but only after Pete Morris hit engine trouble in his new Porsche 996 C2, while in the second race Ben Demetriou powered through from ninth on the grid to give the Boxster S its first ever outright win.
New is the key word this season for the series, with a new model – the 996 C2 – eligible in Class One and a host of established racers out in new cars. Sumpter has retired the 911 he took to last year’s crown and lines up as part of a two-car Paragon 964 team with Andy Purdie, while Morris, 2007 champion Mark McAleer and Paul Winter have all decided the 996 – the most powerful car in the field but also the heaviest – is the route to go for 2012.
The Class One battle at the top of the field will be tight, with Demetriou joined n the Hartech line-up by local racer Marcus Carniel, who will be keen to make up for missing out on Brands due to an arm injury and prove he too can be bang on the pace in the Boxster. Ex-BTCC racer Mark Proctor made his series debut at Brands and brought his 993 C2 home second in race two, only losing out to Demetriou in the final laps.
Also new for this season is the option to run the 968 CS in Class Two, at a higher weight, and that paid off for Alex Eacock at Brands as he took two class wins to head the championship overall. Class opposition is strong, with former Class One runners Richard Higgins and Paul Follett now running their 968s in the class, as well as several quick 944 S2 runners.
From Oulton the series heads to Donington Park and Croft, before returning to Oulton in August. Castle Combe hosts the penultimate rounds on August Bank Holiday Monday before the season climaxes with three races on the Silverstone GP circuit in September.
Qualifying for rounds three and four is at 09.20 on Saturday June 2nd, with the two 25-minute races at 12.05 and 16.05.
