Richard Chamberlain took a pair of wins this weekend at the PMC Trophy meeting for the Apex Tubulars Porsche Open on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Paul McLean led the chase in Friday's race, while on Saturday an exciting high-speed battle for second was won by Paul Hogarth, the cars working their way through backmarkers in the 40-car field.
QualifyingChamberlain unleashed his 935 to set pole position, the orange car over three seconds clear of the rest. The McLean and Peter Fairbairn 993 GT2 was second quickest, the two power cars filling the front row ahead of the newer 997s of Mike Donovan and Paul Hogarth.
Steve Rance was fifth and headed Class Two, with David Mace sixth ahead of Jim Geddie and Mike Johnson.
Race OneChamberlain made a good start to Friday's race, but McLean matched it and they were side-by-side off the line, Chamberlain having the inside line into the first corner. At the end of the first lap they were greeted by the Safety Car that was out after a start line incident way down the field, Chamberlain and McLean being followed by the 997s of Donovan and Hogarth.
Racing resumed on lap four and Chamberlain timed the restart perfectly to hold up the field and then blast away. McLean was secure in second, the two rapid cars soon scything through the backmarkers. Behind, Hogarth was right with Donovan, Mike Johnson running fifth with David Mace, his car moved up to Class One, sixth.
As the race progressed Johnson came under pressure from Jim Geddie, who passed Mace on lap ten and then moved into fifth two laps before the end. Chamberlain was well clear at the flag, leading home McLean, Donovan, Hogarth and Geddie.
"It was a bit of a stroll I'm afraid," said Chamberlain. "With all the cars out there I really had to stay on top of things and it was good fun, my thanks go to all the organisers for getting us here."
"I thought I would be cheeky and try to get my car in front of Richard at the start," said McLean. "It's the first time since I have had the car I have been on the front row with him and I was looking forward to seeing where his car was so quick. I learnt a lot from the first few laps, the set-up on his car is fantastic. There was a big speed differential between us and some of the other traffic, so you had to keep your wits about you."
"As soon as the GT2 cars drove away we had our own GT3 race," said Donovan. "We had a clean circuit on the final laps and set our best times then. I last raced on the Grand Prix circuit in 1987 - it has got twistier since then!"
Steve Rance won Class Two, staying clear of the 996 of Paul Winter with Colin Ingram third and 11th overall.
"I buzzed the engine after the restart," said Rance, "and it felt down on power after that. I had some nice clean racing with a 997, and it was great fun, plus I was under the lap record in qualifying."
Zubin Randeria got the better of Mark Chilton to win Class Three.
Race TwoChamberlain was away well again on Saturday, Paul Fairbairn slow away alongside and slipping down the order immediately. Hogarth claimed second, Donovan, Johnson, Geddie and Paul Mace lining up behind.
Chamberlain increased his lead by the lap, the wide expanse of Silverstone Grand Prix circuit letting him stretch the legs of the 935. Behind, the train of cars closed up till Hogarth, Donovan Geddie and Johnson were running together, the four slicing through backmarkers and often passing either side of the slower cars in their battle.
Geddie pulled off on lap 12 as an oil pressure warning light flashed, and Johnson moved up to third and challenged Hogarth through Abbey. The 997 pilot held onto second though, and at the end it was Hogarth second from Johnson, Donovan and the recovering Fairbairn.
"A good straightforward race," said Chamberlain. "I was not sure what happened to the silver GT2 at the start, there were no dramas but you had to remember that the other cars were racing too and go past them when it was sensible to do so. It makes up for when I had to park a healthy car when leading here earlier in the year."
"That was really entertaining - a very busy race," said Hogarth. "Both races over the weekend have been brilliant, you couldn't relax anywhere on the track. The team were saying I was concentrating too much on what was happening behind, but there was no point when I had a cushion and I had to be on it all the way round. You had to be quite bold when you catch the Club championship front-runners, they were having their own big battle."
"That was a great battle," said Johnson. "I caught Jim Geddie and the other 997s, but under braking my car was dipping in one corner. At one point we were criss-crossing in backmarkers, I went to the left as Paul Hogarth braked and touched his rear corner. I was quicker in certain places, but you need to dummy guys and get down the inside to get past. On the last couple of laps there was some oil down, there were yellow flags, but I missed the green and someone came down my inside! The car is still not right, the engine is fine, but we are on old tyres."
"I had the oil pressure light come on a new engine, so I had to pull in right away," said Geddie.
"I had a good enjoyable dice with Steve Rance," said Winter. "Into Stowe someone used me as their braking point, but apart from that it was a great race, Steve was so fair and clean it was wonderful. A very enjoyable weekend."
Randeria was again the Class Three leader.
Apex Tubulars Porsche Open PMC Trophy, race one: 1 Richard Chamberlain (935) 14 laps in 30m45.058s (87.24mph); 2 Paul McLean (993 GT2) 31m12.729s; 3 Mike Donovan (997 GT3 Cup); 4 Paul Hogarth (997 GT3); 5 Jim Geddie (997 GT3); 6 Mike Johnson (996 GT3 R); 7 George Brewster (993 GT2); 8 Paul Mace (996 GT3 Cup); 9 Steven Rance (996 GT3); 10 Paul Winter (996 GT3 Cup). Class winners: Chamberlain; Rance; Zubin Randeria (993 Cup). Fastest lap: Chamberlain 1m57.065s (98.22mph).
Race two: 1 Chamberlain, 15 laps in 30m10.831s (95.24mph); 2 Hogarth 30m38.077s; 3 Johnson; 4 Donovan; 5 Peter Fairbairn (993 GT2); 6 Mace; 7 Winter; 8 Rance; 9 Colin Ingram (996 GT3 Cup); 10 John Griffiths (935). Pole: Chamberalin. Class Winners: Chamberlain; Winter; Randeria. Fastest lap: Chamberlain, 1m56.887s (98.37mph).
Next rounds: Brands Hatch, Kent, September 22nd / 23rd
