Race 3: Silverstone, 15 May 2004

Richard Chamberlain made it three wins from three races in the Michelin Porsche Open Series at Silverstone on Saturday (15 May). Rupert Lewin (996 GT2R) led the chase of the flying 935, as Craig Rapp (911GT3 Cup), Gordon Matthew (944 Turbo) and Alex Eacock (944) all claimed class spoils.

A tremendous 26-car field lined up for the third race of the Open season and Chamberlain underlined his ambition for the race by planting the 935 on pole with a lap in 57.211s. "I've done a 57-dead before and I was aiming at a 56s lap," admitted Chamberlain, who was pulling over 150mph before braking for Brooklands.

Lewin was second fastest, but a mix of slower traffic, yellow flags and gravel on the track conspired against him setting a better lap than 59.487s. Series debutant Steve Donovan was third fastest in the 911GT3RS tended by Mike Pickup, while Rapp was fourth and topped class two in his GT3 Cup.

Chamberlain burst off the line to lead the pack into Copse and quickly established a considerable lead. Lewin went after the 935 initially, but lap by lap the gap grew and Chamberlain came close to breaking the 57s barrier in the early laps as he stormed clear.

The main dicing was in the pack as Brian Robinson (930) recovered from a slow start to fight through to third at the expense of Donovan. "As soon as the tyres got hot it was okay," reckoned Robinson after easing ahead of the newer car on lap 10 as they charged down the national straight.

Fifth overall and clear class two winner was Rapp in is first race of the season. He quickly pulled clear of the rest of the class two pack as Nick Staveley and Kevin Harrison enacted the battle of the race in their GT3s. Having traded the position several times, Staveley finally got the verdict by little more than a fifth of a second after a bold move under braking into Brooklands for the last time. Fourth in class two went to Tony Brown's new 964RSR, despite having to run less than optimum tyres after an ABS failure left four tyres flat-spotted in testing.

Matthew drove an excellent race on his Open debut to claim class three in his 944 Turbo, well clear of the 968CS of Mark Lillington. Meanwhile, the class four pack was again headed by Eacock, though the centre of attention was a race-long battle for second between Tim Bevan and Nigel Ainge. Bevan finally got the verdict.

Back at the head of the race, Chamberlain's pace was such that he finished a lap clear of everyone else. "The car was still not perfect, but it was very good," he said on the podium. "But 25 minutes is a long time!"

Results – 26 laps:1 Richard Chamberlain (935) 25m36.153s (99.98mph); 2 Rupert Lewin (996 GT2R) 25 laps; 3 Brian Robinson (930); 4 Steve Donovan (911GT3RS); 5 Craig Rapp (911 GT3 Cup); 6 Nick Staveley (911 GT3 Cup); 7 Kevin Harrison (911 GT3 Cup); 8 Tony Brown (964RSR); 9 Henry Firman (911 GT3 Cup); 10 Gerald Harrison (911 GT3 Cup). Class winners: Chamberlain; Rapp; Gordon Matthew (944 Turbo); Alex Eacock (944). Fastest lap: Chamberlain 57.116s (103.30mph).

The Open Series season continues at Snetterton next weekend (22/23 May) with a double-header weekend.