Races 1 and 2: Croft, 17/18 April 2004Wet or dry, it made no difference to Richard Chamberlain who dominated the opening two races in the Michelin Porsche Open Series at Croft over the weekend (17/18 April). Rupert Lewin (996 GT2R) gave valiant chase to the flying 935, but on this occasion, Chamberlain was the clear double victor.
Race oneHaving extensively rebuilt his 935 over the winter, Chamberlain went into the first race still short on testing, but that didn’t dull his pace as he romped clear from the start. "That's the first time the car has run without a fault this year," he said after pulling clear at a rate of nearly two seconds a lap. However, it could have easily gone wrong for Chamberlain at the start. A marshal in the assembly area reminded him of the new lights system, with the start of the race now signalled simply by the red lights going out. " I wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t told me," admitted Chamberlain rather sheepishly!
Only Lewin was able to stay on the same lap as the charging Chamberlain, but there was plenty of close battling down the field. Veteran Brian Robinson (930) slotted into a secure third while Henry Firman got his season off to a cracking start with class two victory in his 911 GT3 Cup car. In class three, Paul Howell (993) was victorious in fifth place overall as David Botterill (944 Turbo) just beat Paul Livesey (993) for sixth. This was Botterill's first Open race in his ex-Chris Heeley car, one of four races during the weekend for the local racer.
In the new class four for the 944 brigade, Tim Bevan made the early pace only to spin his lead away at Sunny. That allowed Alex Eacock to take over the class lead, but Bevan came charging back into contention and was challenging for the lead on the final lap when he spun again at Sunny, this time bumping the tyres. Eacock duly took the class, while Bevan salvaged second in his slightly battered car. "It was very close; Tim was quicker on the day," admitted Eacock.
Results race one – 14 laps:1 Richard Chamberlain (935) 29m03.726s (89.05mph); 2 Rupert Lewin (996 GT2R) 20m30.816s; 3 Brian Robinson (930); 4 Henry Firman (911 GT3 Cup); 5 Paul Howell (993); 6 David Botterill (944 Turbo); 7 Paul Livesey (993); 8 Anthony Oliver (964 RS); 9 Martin Dodge (996); 10 Alex Eacock (944). Class winners: Chamberlain; Firman; Howell; Eacock. Fastest lap: Chamberlain 1m23.646s (91.54mph).
Race two
Heavy rain on Sunday morning left the track wet but beginning to dry slightly for the second race. Even early in the race, Lewin regretted not changing to intermediates before the start, feeling that the change of tyres would have given him a better chance of taking the fight to Chamberlain.
However, instead Chamberlain stormed into a clear lead and was never troubled again as he rattled off the laps. "The car was better in the wet than it was in the dry yesterday," reckoned Chamberlain.
"That's the first wet race we’ve had with the car," said Lewin. "It was understeering; we should have gone for the intermediates! But Richard was driving very well," added Lewin.
Firman completed a perfect weekend with another class two victory, taking third overall after Robinson elected not to start due to a lack of wet weather tyres.
Botterill wrapped up a cracking weekend, which earned him four trophies in all, with second in class while Howell was a class-winning fifth despite a spin at Sunny.
Meanwhile, Eacock made it a class four double, having seen off the early challenge of Bevan. "I took all the anti-roll cars off, which was a mistake," reckoned Bevan. His view was underlined by a wild moment across the gravel at Clervaux, which ended with a brush with the tyres before he continued to finish second!
Results race two – 13 laps:1 Chamberlain 20m24.686s (81.28mph); 2 Lewin 20m48.481s; 3 Firman; 4 Botterill; 5 Howell; 6 Eacock; 7 Dodge; 8 Tim Bevan (944); 9 Ragdan El-Akabi (Carrera); 10 Nigel Ainge (944). Class winners: Chamberlain; Firman; Howell; Eacock. Fastest lap: Chamberlain 1m31.739s (83.46mph).
The Porsche Open season will resume at Silverstone on 15 May.
