The 2012 Porsche Club Championship visits the Croft circuit n North Yorkshire this coming Saturday, July 21st, with the local racers determined to uphold regional honour. Yorkshire-based drivers Mark McAleer and Richard Ellis took the wins at Donington Park last month, but reigning champion Mark Sumpter is back for Croft and with competitors such as Mark Proctor, Pete Morris, and Ben Demetriou all chasing victory, action is guaranteed in the two races.
McAleer gave the 996 C2 model, newly eligible for the series, its first outright win at Donington, battling with brother-in-law and fellow Yorkshireman Proctors 993 C3 for much of the day. Ellis claimed his first-ever race win in the series in the final race of the day, but with Sumpter, who won three of the opening four rounds, back out in his 964 C2 and Paragon team-mate Andy Purdie showing his pace at Donington with two podium finishes, opposition will be stiff for the Yorkshiremen at their local venue.
The Brands Hatch season-opening meeting saw Demetriou the first to take a race win in a Boxster S, and with team-mate Marcus Carniel pushing hard, Croft could suit the two Hartech-built cars. Morris has been a constant front-runner in his 996 but plagued with bad luck when on the verge of a good result, while ex-BTCC racer Proctor has been a consistent podium finisher without taking his first win. Keighley-based Chris Dyer has been the best of the 968 CS Class One runners, working his way up the order in every race.
Class Two has also seen some close race action, three wins in a row for Paul Follett seeing the 968 racer heading the championship overall after Donington Park. Alex Eacock won the opening two rounds at Brands Hatch, but a qualifying incident at Donington saw him take no further part in the meeting and dented his points hopes. Mark Koeberle was in the thick of the class battle at Donington, while Tim Speed, winner of the second round at Donington, misses this meeting.
Current schedule for the meeting sees the Porsche Club Championship runners qualifying at 09.55 on Saturday morning, with races at 15.10 and 17.30.
