Richard Chamberlain won the latest round of the Apex Tubulars Porsche Open series, dominating the one-hour race at Donington Park this afternoon despite running most of the race with just one gear available. Rod Carman took second, while Peter Fairbairn just held off Jim Geddie to take third with the 993 GT2 he shared with Paul McLean.
QualifyingChamberlain put his potent 935 on pole, despite running in a new engine on the orange car. The 996 being shared by Peter Morris and Craig Wilkins was second quickest, with Rod Carman third overall and George Brewster and Bob Lyons finishing off the second row.
Steve Rance was quickest in Class Two and seventh overall, three places higher on the grid than the 996 of Lajos Varga and Richard Martin that was second in Class Two. Mark Chilton was the sole Class Three runner.
"We had a bit of a disaster in qualifying," said Chamberlain, "and had to run a new engine in. I never really opened the throttle, and I know we can be five seconds quicker round here. This always seems to be a jinx circuit for us - things always happen here."
RaceChamberlain blasted off the line, opening a gap of almost four seconds on the opening lap, Morris slotting into second with George Brewster and Jim Geddie behind. Excitement on the grid came when both third row cars - Paul McLean and Paul Livesey - stalled, the rest of the runners somehow streaming past without any contact.
As the leader extended his advantage, Morris slowed as he went into Redgate for the third time and pulled off - the clutch pedal on his 996 having gone to the floor. Mike Johnson was on the move, up to third by the end of lap three, while McLean's recovery drive had already taken him to fifth, and three laps later was up to second, albeit with a big gap to Chamberlain.
Johnson took third from Brewster on lap 13, at the 20-minute mark Brewster was the last car on the lead lap - such was the pace of Chamberlain. Things got shaken up on lap 21, Chamberlain slow out the chicane and diving towards the pit entrance before appearing to change his mind and carry on, while McLean lost time with a spin at Coppice before handing over to Peter Fairbairn.
"I stalled off the line," said McLean, "and was pretty much last. I got a bit of red mist and passed lots of people through the Craner Curves. I concentrated on doing some consistent laps, and then near half distance I out-braked myself and went into the gravel at Coppice. I kept the car moving, and was just pleased to be able to give the car to Pete."
Chamberlain's pace dropped, but such was his advantage that he still led after making his compulsory pit stop, the car requiring a push start from the crew to get going again. Carman was picking off places, and emerged in second place at the end of the pit stop sequence, with Johnson third - before dropping a place with a spin at Redgate, his second of the race.
Despite his reduced pace Chamberlain was a lap clear of the rest, while Carman was also secure in second despite the light rain that began to fall in the final laps.
"I only had fourth gear after around ten minutes," said Chamberlain. "The gearbox was fine, it was just the linkage, but I was feathering the throttle and had no acceleration out of the corners. I'm really tired out after that - but my thanks go to the team for their work on the car."
"I was being cautious towards the end," said second-placed Carman, "I have thrown it off in those conditions here before. I made a slow start, the noise from the clutch bearing meant I couldn't hear the engine, and I was running on hard tyres so I knew I had to let the race come to me."
Geddie closed up on Fairbairn, and was looking for a way past to snatch the final podium position. The series sponsor was close into the chicane for the final time, but the power of Fairbairn's GT2 told on the run to the line. Steve Rance took fifth and a deserved Class Two win, just ahead of the recovering Johnson.
"We were lucky with the rain," said Fairbairn, "being a turbo car is can get tricky. I could see Jim catching me near the end but knew I could hold on along the straights."
"He was defending, and I thought I had a chance when I saw the rain," said Geddie, "I got the line into the hairpin and he was very fair and gave me space, but I didn't want to risk locking up and taking us both off. Then his power told on the run to the line, but my car was brilliant, the team did a lot of work overnight."
"I was catching Pete and Jim at the end in the wet," said Rance "but the team had told me not to go off in any circumstances so I was careful. I am usually quick in the wet, but at the end I just wanted an easy class win. It was a shame Pete Morris didn't finish - I was looking forward to racing him."
"I had to make a good start to get up from ninth on the grid," said Johnson, "but the car felt soft on the left rear, there is something not quite right. I also had a power steering leak, that may have been flowing back and getting on the tyres, I just apologising if I distracted anybody with my three spins!"
Mark Chilton won Class Three and was 13th overall.
1 Hour (49 Laps): 1 Richard Chamberlain (935) 1h00m15.565s; 2 Rod Carman (996 RSR) 1h01m.20.654s; 3 Paul McLean / Peter Fairbairn (993 GT2); 4 Jim Geddie (997 GT3 Cup); 5 Steve Rance (996 GT3 Cup); 6 Mike Johnson (996 GT3); 7 Colin Ingram (996 GT3); 8 Paul Winter / Tim Speed (996 GT3); 9 Mark Albutt (996 GT3); 10 Tommy Dreelan (997 GT3 Cup). Class winners: Chamberlain; Rance, Mark Chilton (928 GTS). Fastest lap: Chamberlain, 1m09.278s (101.695).
Next rounds: Silverstone, Northants, September 7th and 8th
