The Porsche Club Championship visited Croft in North Yorkshire for the penultimate meeting of the season, and saw race wins for Ben Demetriou and Mark McAleer – while championship leader Jez Clark stayed won Class Two in both rounds and now heads into the final races at Silverstone unbeaten in class all year.
Qualifying
Mark McAleer was quickest in qualifying for the first race, the local racer claiming his first pole of the season at his home circuit. Marcus Carniel, the first rear-engined race winner of the season at Castle Combe in August, lined up second on the grid, while Clark lined his Class Two 944 S2 up third overall, with Demetriou alongside.
For race two, the grid set by each driver’s second fastest lap, McAleer was once more on pole, with Clark alongside and Demetriou and Carniel on row two
Race One
Carniel made the most of rear-engined traction to head the field away at the start, leading into the first corner with McAleer slotting into second and Demetriou third. A storming start from Richard Ellis in his 993 saw him fifth at the end of the first lap from tenth on the grid, chasing Richard Lambert in fourth.
Demetriou looked outside McAleer into Tower on lap two, as Clark started to try to find a way past Ellis, taking fifth before the end of the lap. Carniel had opened a gap in the opening two laps, but then the chasing 968s of McAleer and Demetriou began to close in. McAleer set a fastest race lap at that point as he closed on the leader, Carniel pushing hard at the front and raising dust as he slipped wide at the exit of Tower.
The lead three were together by lap six, Clark now up to fourth after Lambert has spun down the order to sixth. A lap later McAleer saw a gap as they tip-toed through the hairpin at the end of the lap and slotted the nose of his car inside Carniel, the two touching and both losing ground, Demetriou smartly going past both and into the lead.
McAleer recovered to continue in second, with Clark now third and a charging David Botterill now up to fourth ahead of Lambert and Ellis. A second spin for Lambert dropped him to seventh, where he became in a battle with returnee Pete Morris and Ellis.
Demetriou had been gifted a lead, but controlled the race from the front and exploited the situation to stay clear of McAleer and take his ninth win of the season. McAleer chased hard, closing in at one point but the leader knew what he had to do to take his ninth win of the season.
Clark had held the outright fastest lap for the middle part of the race, and took third despite slowing in the final laps as his car began making ominous noises in the corners. Botterill claimed fourth, clear of Ellis, while Lambert got the better of Morris, who had lost the ABS on his 968 on its race debut.
“I came here just looking for points,” said Demetriou, “and I was going to stay behind Marcus and Mark when suddenly it all happened. I saw had a gap once I was past them and just tried to maintain them. It was fine till I saw the last lap board, then I had a bit of brain fade, it almost all went a bit pear-shaped but I knew I had the win.”
“A frustrating race,” said McAleer, “I felt I was quicker than Marcus into the hairpin and he left the door open so I want up the inside. Maybe he didn’t see me, but as he turned in he spun round, then hit the inside of me and pushed me onto the grass and Ben went inside both of us. By the time I got back on he was gone.”
“I was going to have a go an Mark for second,” said Clark after his 13th class win of the year, “I could catch him in certain places, then every time I turned the car there was a heavy clonking noise from the back that got worse and worse. I had to back off, but when you do that everything cools off and the car doesn’t feel right. It turned out to be just a shock absorber canister had come loose – it sounded like something major under that car!”
“I know my way round here, but that didn’t feel that quick,” said Botterill. “It seemed a leisurely drive, then I started pushing to make up places. I had a good tussle with Jeremy at first, then Richard Lambert made up time on me but spun, and after that I just kept it tidy and clean.”
“I made a great start,” said Ellis of his start, “the first lap went to plan. I mainly got past everyone off the start.”
“I cured the understeer I had this morning,” said Lambert, “but had oversteer instead. I had two spins, the first dropped me behind David, the second got me back with Richard and Pete. I had a good dice there, it was hard work but good fun.”
“It was hard work without the ABS,” said Morris “then I had some fuel surge in the last few laps – I got past Richard then he got me back. Hard work, but enjoyable.”
Race Two
Carniel made the best start in Sunday’s race and was leading as the field turned into the first corner, but a touch from another car saw him spin into the gravel. This shuffled the order at the front, with Lambert ahead at the end of the first lap chased by Demetriou and McAleer.
These three had a gap on the rest, who were headed by Class Two’s Chris Dyer, who had Botterill and Clark – delayed at the first corner – behind him. Demetriou looked inside Lambert at the hairpin on lap four, and the top three were all close through Tower on the next lap.
The order changed on lap six as McAleer got a run down the inside of Demetriou into Tower to take second, then took the lead from Lambert at the back of the circuit. Meanwhile, Clark had got past Botterill, and went through the Complex and into the hairpin at the end of the lap side-by-side with Dyer for the class lead, Clark emerging ahead as they entered the pit straight, and Dyer falling behind Botterill.
McAleer pushed hard to open a gap, setting a fastest race lap on the way, with Demetriou now in second. McAleer stayed clear till the flag, Demetriou equally secure in second and happy to collect the championship points for that position. Lambert finished third, his first podium in his 964.
“It’s always nice to win at your home track,” said McAleer, “everyone expects you to walk it but it doesn’t work like that in this championship. The car felt really in the zone, and it was a case of just getting on with it. Richard got a bit wide exiting Sunny and I was able to get inside him. A satisfying weekend – and its only 15-minutes home from here!”
“A good weekend, I couldn’t have asked for more as regards to the Class One title, “ said Demetriou. “I didn’t want to take any risks today, my tyres were gone by the end and Mark was all over me and got past, I tried to hook up with him but he was gone.”
“I’m relieved to make it to the end,” said Lambert, “the tyres were gone in the previous race but I just had to make do. Mark got past me at Sunny, I was struggling to get round there. It was nice to lead for four laps, I didn’t expect to win it with my tyres.”
Clark came home fourth, closing on Lambert in the final laps who was struggling for grip, with Dyer fifth, and second in Class Two. Botterill took sixth, ahead of the closing Richard Higgins, while behind a three car dice finally went the way of Morris who headed home Ellis and John Williams.
“I had to work hard at the start,” said Clark, “I thought I was away well, but by the time I was in second or third I had four or five 911s go straight past. Then everyone was all over the place, Marcus was spinning round the car in front of me stopped dead so I had to stop – I was sure I was going to get hit. We finally pulled away and from then on it was catch up, there were some quick cars ahead. It was close with Chris for the class lead, and towards the end I was catching Richard.”
Anthony Oliver was in a class of his own as he took his second Class Three win of the weekend.
Porsche Club Championship, Round 13, (30 Minutes): 1 Ben Demetriou (968 CS) 30m48.769s; 2 Mark McAleer (968 CS)+1.363s; 3 Jeremy Clark (944 S2); 4 David Botterill (964 C2); 5 Richard Elis (993 C2); 6 Richard Lambert (964 C2); 7 Peter Morris (968 CS); 8 Richard Higgins (968 CS); 9 Marcus Carniel (964 C2); 10 Chris Dyer (944 S2). Class Winners: Demetriou; Clark; Anthony Oliver (911 SC). Fastest Lap: McAleer, 1m36.108s (78.662mph).
Round 14, (30 Minutes): 1 McAleer 30m46.431s; 2 Demetriou +9.354s; 3 Lambert; 4 Clark; 5 Dyer; 6 Botterill; 7 Higgins; 8 Morris; 9 Ellis; 10 John Williams (911 SC). Class Winners: McAleer; Clark; Oliver. Fastest Lap: McAleer, 1m35.502s (79.161mph).
Final Rounds: Silverstone, Northants, October 2nd and 3rd .
