13th August 2011
Pete Morris and Marcus Carniel claimed the class wins in the first of the two Porsche Club Championship rounds at Oulton ParK on Saturday, August 13th, but both were eliminated in a double car destroying incident that saw race two stopped, the pair escaping with just minor injuries. Pre-Oulton championship leader Mark Sumpter then won race two, having had his first non-finish of the year in race one, with title rival Chris Dyer taking Class Two – keeping the pair close in the title chase.
Qualifying
Sumpter was quickest overall for the fifth time in qualifying this season, taking pole for both races, with McAleer second quickest ahead of series returnee Marcus Carniel, who was quickest of the Class Two runners. Carniel’s next best lap was good enough for second on the grid for race one.
“We were struggling a bit with understeer for some reason,” said Sumpter. “I did a time then cooled the car down for a few laps and right at the end decided to go for it and we did the time. I’m really pleased, but it is going to be a very close race.”
“I knew I would go well as I had done the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge qualifying session,” said Carniel, “so the car was warm and I was up to speed on the circuit. I found some space and put in a couple of quick laps early, then it drizzled a bit, and I came in when the fuel light came on.”
Race One
Sumpter led the field into the first corner with McAleer second, the rest of the grid away cleanly through the quick first corner. The always fast starting Kevin Harrison was storming up the inside from fifth on the grid, Morris shutting the door emphatically to slot into third.
Heading into lap two a clinical move from McAleer saw him dive down the inside of Sumpter at Old Hall to take the lead. At the Shell Hairpin Sumpter saw a gap and slotted his Carrera inside McAleer, only to slide straight on and into the gravel trap. That raised Morris to second, but a lap later the Safety Car was out as Sumpter’s car was recovered.
When racing resumed on lap six, Morris tried to go round the outside of McAleer into the first corner and was rebuffed, but a lap later the lead was his out the back of the circuit. McAleer kept the pressure on, these two clear of the field, but despite setting the race’s fastest lap with a lap to go, had to settle for the runner-up slot as Morris took his second win of 2011.
“The others seemed to be struggling on cold tyres,” said Morris, “I eased off a bit, then thought ‘no!’, and pushed on. Mark Sumpter made a mistake at Shell and I outbraked Mark McAleer there after the restart, and he was fair and gave me room. He was good n the brakes and could close on me in some places. I’m pleased to take my second win – hopefully I can get another later this afternoon.”
“I got past Mark into Old Hall, he left me room,” said McAleer, “I felt comfortable and then Mark went off, and when the Safety Car came out I backed off when it was due to go in, accelerated, came round the corner to find the Safety Car had waited for me! That let Pete get close. I thought I had a chance at the end, but I thought we were going to get one lap more than we did.”
Behind, Harrison was holding off Ben Demetriou and Class Two leader Carniel, the trio close right at the end, Carniel getting a great exit from the final corner to just outdrag Demetriou to the line and claim third fourth place by two thousandths of a second, Harrison taking third.
“I was trying for my lightning start, and Pete came from left to right!” joked Harrison. “That was a good race and I was in quite a battle, I had to be defensive at the end but there was no way I was going to give this podium away.”
“I was out of brakes and out of tyres by the end, but it is still frustrating to miss out on the podium,” said Carniel. “I kept pushing, there was no one behind to worry about and I just got past Ben right at the end!”
Race Two
The first attempt to run race two saw the red flags out as the field exited the first corner, Morris and Carniel touching on the run down to Cascades, both spearing off to the left and rolling, Morris’ car vaulting the safety barriers. Neither was seriously injured, the roll cages of both cars doing their job and staying intact, leaving Morris with a sprained ankle and both drivers likely to be pretty sore in the coming days. After a lengthy break, the decision was made to run the race over a 12-minute time limit, Oulton’s curfew fast approaching.
Sumpter led the field away, the short race distance allowing him to push his Carrera hard over the full duration of the race, with Paul Follett making the most of the missing cars in front of him on the grid to snatch second early on from fifth at the start. Another fast starter was Richard Ellis, into third by the end of lap one and holding off McAleer as he closed on Follett.
With Sumpter easing away at the front to take his fifth win of the year, the action was for second, Ellis looking outside Follett into Old Hall on the final lap, the pair together at Cascades with McAleer now in close attendance. Further round the lap it was Ellis onto second, McAleer also going past to deny Follett his first ever podium finish as the race was brought to a halt after six laps.
“The shorter race suited the car,” said Sumpter, “and its good to have a straightforward win after what happened to us earlier, though the circumstances we where we had the race reduced in time was unfortunate for all involved. Normally a race like that is a bit dull for everyone, but it has made up for this morning. I’m still annoyed about going off, I can’t remember the last time I did that in the race.”
“After the incident at the first start this is not really the way I’d want to get on the podium,” said Ellis. “but I made a good start and kept it neat and tidy. I was pushing Paul Follett hard and waited for him to make a mistake, though it took some doing keeping Mark McAleer behind.”
“I was pushing hard, but Richard drove a good race,” said McAleer. “He slowed me down in the places where I could go quicker, and with his power I couldn’t get alongside him. It’s been a good day for us.”
“I never saw the past lap board,” explained Follett, “and I thought we had more laps to go and everyone else was in qualifying lap mode!”
Carniel’s demise left Class Two wide open, reigning champion Chris Dyer working his way into the top ten to claim his eighth class win of the season.
“It’s another win but in less than ideal circumstances,” said Dyer. “The car was handling well and Mark Sumpter’s non-finish should put me in front in the points – I just have to keep plugging away.”
Porsche Club Championship Race One: 1 Pete Morris (968 CS) 11 Laps; 2 Mark McAleer (968 CS) +0.263s; 3 Kevin Harrison (964 C2); 4 Marcus Carniel (944 S2); 5 Ben Demetriou (968 CS); 6 Richard Ellis (993 C2); 7 Paul Follett (968 CS); 8 Chris Dyer (944 S2); 9 Mike Clapham (968 CS); 10 David Botterill (964 C2). Class Winners: Morris; Carniel. Fastest Lap: McAleer 1m57.178s (82.70mph).
Race Two: 1 Mark Sumpter (3.2 Carrera) 6 Laps; 2 Ellis +2.735s; 3 McAleer; 4 Follett; 5 Harrison; 6 Clapham; 7 Paul Winter (968 CS); 8 Dyer; 9 Botterill; 10 Demetriou. Class Winners: Sumpter; Dyer. Fastest Lap: Harrison 1m58.226s (81.97mph).
Next Rounds: Castle Combe, Wiltshire, August 29th 2011.
