The Porsche Club GB brought its three motorsport championships, the Porsche Club Championship, Porsche Open and Porsche Speed Championship, to a formal close with an awards evening at the Hilton Puckrup Hall Hotel near Tewkesbury on the evening of Saturday October 17th. Champions and class winners from each series were honoured, with awards being presented by Steve Dolby of Michelin, long-term supporters of the club’s racing activities.
The Porsche Open, being a series rather than a championship, still had two awards to announce on the night, with Driver of the Year, based on results and a subjective element from the organisers, going to Mike Johnson. Unbeaten in class and a supporter of the Open all season, Mike was always in the thick of the action in his Class Three 911 SC, and even had the temerity to lead the entire field into the first corner at the final race of the year at Silverstone. Mike wins a one-off drive in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB next season.
“I’m delighted to win the award,” said Johnson, “I’m already really looking forward to racing in the Carrera Cup next season and it is going to be exciting to take part in such a competitive series. It’s been a great season for me, the car has been faultless.”
The Spirit of the Series award for the Porsche Open went to Dave Whelan, who travelled from Ireland to contest each round of the series. The two winners will be the final ones in Porsche Open history – for 2010 the series is replaced by the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge.
Jeremy Clark was duly awarded the Porsche Club Championship trophy, the reigning champion holding on to his crown, this time racing in Class Two and undefeated in class all year. Ben Demetriou claimed the Class One title – becoming the first driver in Porsche Club history to have won all three classes in different seasons.
The team award for the Porsche Club Championship went to County Classics Racing Ltd., who ran run the car of Clark as well as other outright race winners across the season, scoring more points than cars prepared by any other team. The trophy was accepted by County Classic’s Ian Goreham.
The Porsche Speed Championship title went to another driver who remained unbeaten all season, Graham Rose taking his second overall title from Class Four of the series in the 15th season of the well-supported series.
“It has been a great year for us with some competitive racing at all levels,” said Porsche Club motorsport coordinator Steve Kevlin. “We have had strong entry numbers this season despite the current economic climate, and are already planning for the 2010 season, when we have the new Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge to look forward to.”
