Mark Sumpter took the opening Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli win of the day at Silverstone with a stunning back to front drive in which he passed the entire field in two laps after pitting for wet tyres as rain fell at the race start. Bradshaw continued his winning ways with victory in round eight, though title rival John McCullagh took Class Two in both races to extend his slender lead.QualifyingThe track still featured damp patches from an earlier shower as the 30-cars went out for qualifying, McCullagh demonstrating his liking for the conditions by immediately going quickest, at one point 13-seconds quicker than the rest. As the dry line grew the Class One cars came to the fore, Adrian Slater, Pete Morris, Sumpter and Bradshaw vying for pole with the lap times tumbling.Bradshaw put in a quick lap towards the end of the session to put his Hartech Boxster S clear at the top of the times by a second and a half, and the return of the rain in the final minutes ensured that time wasnt going to be beaten. Slater was second ahead of Sumpter and Morris, Mark McAleer and Craig Wilkins rounding out the top six.We found some time in testing here yesterday, said Bradshaw, and we were able to put it to good use this morning. It was a bit nerve-wracking before the session with tyre choice but you could see right away that slicks were the right choice. I was able to find myself a gap and Im really pleased with the time.McCullagh finished the 25-minute session seventh overall in his 968 CS and well clear of his Class Two rivals, Graham Knight and Jonathan Evans second and third in class.It was slippery early in the session and I wanted to get a couple of quick laps in early in case the rain came back, said McCullagh. I had a clear track and was wondering where everyone else was.One casualty of qualifying was the 996 C2 of Paul Winter, out with an engine problem.Race OneRain started to fall as the cars sat in the collection area for race one, the whole field having left the pit garages on slick tyres. As they set off on the green flag lap behind a safety car, Sumpter ducked immediately into the pit for his Paragon crew to fit wet weather tyres, his Paragon 964 starting the race from the pitlane once the entire field had passed.Slater got the best start off the grid and led Bradshaw into the first corner, but a slide into Maggots saw Bradshaws Boxster back ahead. Behind, Sumpter was tearing through the order, passing 25-cars on the opening lap to be fourth. Into Aintree corner on lap two and Sumpter was past Bradshaw for the lead, Slater third ahead of Morris, McAleer and Wilkins.With a clear track ahead of him Sumpter used the extra grip of his wet tyres to set a series of fastest race laps and open a gap to Bradshaw, at times over five seconds a lap quicker than his pursuers. Morris and McAleer were closing on Slater for third, that battle ultimately going the way of McAleers 996 C2 after both Morris EMC Motorsport 996 C2 and Slater had moments in the slippery conditions.The rain eased mid-race and the track was quickly drying in the stiff breeze, but despite an overall fastest lap from Bradshaw right at the end Sumpter still had a big lead and took his first win of the season. Bradshaw had been the quickest car on slicks for much of the race and scored valuable championship points despite some big slides early in the race.I was thinking about it in the collecting area and decided to go straight into the pits for wets, said Sumpter, we also had time to soften off the set-up. It seemed better to make the decision early, I think you always try to have the right car for the conditions you have right now. I went past so many cars on the opening lap, I knew I had to push hard early on but after that it all went my way, anything could have happened including a safety car that would have bunched us all up again, but it paid off.

 That was a good decision by Mark, said Bradshaw, As soon as we left the collecting area you could see it was wet and I was close to coming and changing tyres myself, but being on pole I had more to lose. It was very slippery and there was no point defending from Mark as he went past, I thought his tyres might start to go off from about halfway but the gap to him wasnt going down.

I was expecting that to be hard work but these slicks still seemed to have good grip in the wet, said McAleer. I followed Pete Morris for a while as we were closing on Adrian Slater, so there was no point in challenging him at that point. Then Adrian had half a spin and I was able to get past Pete and had a gap, before I came across a group of backmarkers and it became a race to the line!Slater fought with Mike Johnson, up from 16th on the grid, for fifth in the final laps, losing and then regaining the slot, while Craig Wilkins was seventh having battled with Class Two winner John McCullagh. Graham Knight took second in Class Two with Mark Koeberle third, just staying clear of the rapid Jonathan Evans who was closing in after an early race spin.It was a difficult call, said McCullagh, the conditions were bad at the start of the race and I wanted to stay with the lead group but I didnt want to get tangled up with any of them. I had to be a bit restrained but it was still a tough raceI swapped places with Craig Wilkins two or three times. Mark Sumpter made a great call on the tyres, I was tempted to follow him in and that was the right time to make that move. I had some clear track early on, then some fun at the end, a great race!Race TwoThe second race of the day was held on a dry track, and Slater made the best start from the outside of the front row, though Bradshaw stayed with him and was in front by the end of the lap, his standing start lap over 12-seconds quicker than the best lap in race one, such was the improvement in conditions. Sumpter slotted into third, leading Morris, McAleer and Kevin Harrison.A series of five fastest laps in a row saw Bradshaw ease away from the field, Morris pressured Slater into going wide at Aintree and moved into second, Sumpter and McAleer also going past Slater dropped to fifth, with Harrison sixth ahead of Carniel and McCullagh. Morris was pushing hard but unable to close the gap to the leader, Sumpter in turn coming under pressure from McAleer who finally got past on lap seven.Bradshaw backed off in the final laps to take his fifth win of the season, Morris holding the gap to McAleer constant to finish second, McAleer recording his second podium finish of the day. Paragon duo Sumpter and Slater took fourth and fifth, Carniel a lonely sixth.I got a good run out of Becketts and could keep with Adrian down the straight and nipped up the inside to take the lead, said Bradshaw. From then on it was about pushing hard and trying to chip away at the times, and I backed off when I had a gap. I was really enjoying the car and circuit, then thought it was best to ease off and bring it home. A really good day.That was a good race, said Morris, I had a good battle with Adrian Slater, but when I was in second there was no way I was going to catch the Boxster, he was too far away. Mark McAleer started coming back at me, my tyres were on their fourth race, but I could match his pace.I was getting close to Pete at the end, but I just needed him to make a couple of mistakes, said McAleer. The car feels good but we are just not fast enough at the moment so I am happy with two podiums form the day.McCullagh was eighth and headed home Class Two despite a couple of lurid slides as he pushed hard exiting Luffield battling Class one cars. Knight took second while Koeberle again got the better of Evans to take third.I got out of shape a couple of times, said McCullagh. I was pushing hard and had some good battles. I got a reasonable start and then diced with Kevin Harrison, its been a fantastic weekend with the car going really well.Porsche Club Championship Round Seven: 1 Mark Sumpter (964 C2) 10 Laps); 2 Tom Bradshaw (Boxster S) +35.555s; 3 Mark McAleer (996 C2); 4 Morris (996 C2); 5 2 Adrian Slater (964 C2); 6 Mike Johnson (996 C2); 7 Craig Wilkins (996 C2); 8 John McCullagh (968 CS); 9 Marcus Carniel (Boxster S); 10 David Botterill (964 C2). Class Winners: Sumpter; McCullagh. Fastest Lap: Bradshaw 2m35.227s (84.41mph).Round Eight: 1 Bradshaw (11 laps); 2 Morris +8.475s; 3 McAleer; 4 Sumpter; 5 Slater; 6 Carniel; 7 Richard Ellis (993 C2); 8 McCullagh; 9 Gary Marsh (996 C2); 10 Johnson. Class Winners: Bradshaw; McCullagh. Fastest Lap: Bradshaw 2m18.842s (94.37mph).

Next Rounds: Castle Combe, Wiltshire, 26th August