The Porsche Club Championship provided two exciting races to thrill Castle Combe’s Bank Holiday Monday crowd, Marcus Carniel winning the first to start his, and the 964 C2 model’s, victory tally for 2009, while Class One points leader Ben Demetriou won race two. Jez Clark remained unbeaten in Class Two, despite being tapped into a spin at the beginning of race two, and holds onto the overall points lead
Qualifying
Scott Kavanagh continued the qualifying form he showed at Thruxton to set the overall quickest time and pole for race one, and just like the previous meeting it was Demetriou who set second quickest time to head the grid for race two. Carniel lined up second for race one, with Kavanagh taking the final front row slot for the second race.
“We tested here Thursday and have gone a different way on set-up,” said Kavanagh, “but I have always gone well here. It’s about being smooth and brave over the bumps.”
Clark headed the Class Two runners for both races, fifth and sixth on the grid, with Anthony Oliver taking Class Three honours.
Race One
Kavanagh led the field away from pole with Carniel close behind, Kevin Harrison making a good start to slot into third while Demetriou lost ground on the first lap. Carniel was right with Kavanagh at the end of lap one, and had a look for a way past the leader at Quarry.
A lap later the complexion of the race changed, Harrison being hit by a ten-second penalty after his start was judged errant, and Mark McAleer retiring from sixth at the exit of Quarry with a steering problem. The top four began to open a gap on the rest, Kavanagh leading ahead of Carniel, Harrison (pre-penalty) and Richard Lambert. Clark was fifth, leading Class Two, with a recovering Demetriou, who had slipped to eighth at the end of the first lap, now sixth.
Kavanagh missed the apex at Camp on lap eight, and Carniel looked to take advantage at Folly but Kavanagh held on, only for Carniel to make a move at the Esses and go ahead. Demetriou was with the lead group, having eased past Clark, and looking for a way past Harrison, going inside the 964 through Folly only for his way to be blocked by a back-marker.
Lambert was closing on Kavanagh for second, but the 993 racer held on to take his best finish of the year. Carniel also scored his best result, not only his first win of the year but also the first for a rear-engined car in the 2009 Porsche Club Championship. Demetriou was right with Lambert at the end, but had to settle for fourth, Harrison taking fifth and sufficiently clear of Clark in sixth to stay in that position even after his penalty was added.
“I got quite a good start,” said Carniel, “but Scott was in the lead and making his car very wide. I eventually found a way past into Quarry and once ahead I was being careful not to get the tyres too hot. I wanted to make sure the guys behind were more bothered with each other than with me. Good to take my first win of the year.”
“It was a shame I was second, Marcus got past me into Quarry,” said Kavanagh. “The car was working well and it was pretty even at the front between us. Hope to get off the line well and be up there again in the next race.”
“The car felt quick,” said Lambert, “we had a disappointing test session on Thursday but some new front tyres seemed to cure it and I was hoping to get with the front guys. We did some quick laps and the car felt nice, but Ben was right on me at the end and I had to defend like hell in the last corner. It’s nice to come back and be competitive.”
“That was ok, but the tyres have gone,” said Clark. “At first I thought I had a chance of getting up with the lead group, but then the tyres went off and I started getting ragged.”
Read Two
Demetriou made a peach of a start in his 968 CS in race two to lead the field away from pole despite being surrounded by rear-engined cars on the grid. Lambert moved into second from fourth on the grid, with Harrison slotting into third. Kavanagh was in the lead group, but pulled off on the opening lap with a recurrence of the throttle problem that had hit him at Thruxton.
The field was also rearranged when Clark was tapped into a spin on the first lap, being clipped by two other cars as he sat watching the rest of the field stream towards him. With Lambert closing on Demetriou, the battle for third featured Harrison, Richard Higgins and McAleer – already up from seventh on the grid. These three battled lap after lap, Harrison resolute in his defence of the position and Carniel closing to make it a four-way battle.
Higgins finally moved into third on lap eight, the lead pair now five-seconds clear at the front, Lambert a second behind Demetriou. Both McAleer and Carniel were past Harrison a lap later, McAleer flying and setting a series of fastest race laps as he again reeled in Higgins. At the front, Lambert pushed hard and took time out of the leader, but Demetriou then responded with his own best race lap with a alp to go and took his eighth win of the season, Lambert making it a double podium weekend as the 2004 champion made a welcome appearance again in the series.
McAleer found a way past Higgins at Quarry to claim the final podium position, with Carniel fifth ahead of Harrison, David Botterill and Peter Erceg. Clark worked his way back to ninth, once more winning Class Two to retain his unbeaten record that stretches back to May 2008.
“I got a brilliant start – to make up for the first race,” said Demetriou. “I was determined to get away and once I was in the lead I saw Richard behind me and knew he was quick, so I put in some quick laps. I got held up by a back-marker, which wasn’t his fault, and Richard closed but I was able to get back on it again. Mark took third – so he is still in the chase for the Class One title.”
“I just didn’t have the edge to catch up with Ben,” said Lambert. “I had a push with four or five laps to go, but the tyres and brakes were gone. I was happy Richard held Mark behind for so long, I was getting the countdown on how far they were behind. I made a good start for a change, be nice to actually take the chequered flag first – I did all my winning in Class Two so have never taken the actual flag.”
“It was good,” said McAleer, “I just needed another ten minutes at the end of the race and I could have got back at them. I got outside Richard at Quarry, and made it stick, I tried a lap early but got held up by a back-marker, but finally got a good run on him and out-braked him. A good result – but a frustrating weekend.”
“Somebody hit me on the opening lap and I got tapped round,” said Clark. “All I could see was 20-odd cars coming towards me, but I only got hit twice and the second hit pushed me back onto the grass. I didn’t know if I had any gears or anything, but the car pulled away and it was just trying to get back.”
Porsche Club Championship, Round 11, 16 Laps: 1 Marcus Carniel (964 C2) 20m59.883s (84.57mph); 2 Scott Kavanagh (993 C2) +0.514s; 3 Richard Lambert (964 Carrera 2); 4 Ben Demetriou (968 CS); 5 Kevin Harrison (964 C2); 6 Jeremy Clark (944 S2); 7 Richard Ellis (993 C2); 8 David Botterill (964 C2); 9 Peter Erceg (968 CS); 10 Chris Dyer (944 S2).Class Winners: Carniel; Clark; Anthony Oliver (911SC). Fastest Lap: Demetriou 1m17.164s (86.31mph).
Round 12, 16 Laps: 1 Demetriou 21m00.287s (84.55mph); 2 Lambert +1.216s; 3 Mark McAleer (968 CS); 4 Richard Higgins (968 CS); 5 Carniel; 6 Harrison; 7 Botterill; 8 Erceg; 9 Clark; 10 Paul Follett (968 CS). Class Winners: Demetriou; Clark; Oliver. Fastest Lap: Demetriou 1m17.164s (86.31mph).
Next Rounds: Croft, North Yorkshire, September 26th and 27th.
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