Defending champion Morris claims second Porsche title with Pirelli
Victory at Croft has enabled Pete Morris to secure his second consecutive overall title in the Pirelli-backed Fuel Protect Porsche Club Championship.
Craig Wilkins (996 C2) showed the early pace in the final round of this year’s series at the North Yorkshire circuit last weekend by securing pole for both races. He led race one from the similar car of fellow front-row starter Mark McAleer, before missing a gear while passing a backmarker and allowing his rival through for the win. Kevin Harrison (996 C2) was third, with the similar cars of Morris and Mike Johnson in close attendance throughout.
Morris took the lead from a slow-starting Wilkins at the beginning of race two and built up a cushion before being hounded by McAleer in the closing laps. But Morris hung on for his sixth win of the season, taking the title to boot. Harrison was again third with Johnson fourth.
“I had a couple of moments with backmarkers but we’ve done enough to take the title – even though Mark made me work very hard in the final laps,” said Morris. “I waited so long to take the overall title, it’s great to take two consecutively.”
In Class Two David Botterill (964 C2) scored his second win of the season in race one before Tim Speed (968 CS) came through to win race two and secure that title, beating rival Jonathan Evans by a scant five points. “I was driving the tyres off my car and it’s great to finish on a high!” said Speed.
Palmer and Newey celebrate F4 success on Pirelli tyres
Harri Newey has claimed the runners-up spot in this year’s Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship – for which Pirelli is the tyre supplier – after claiming a win at Brands Hatch to finish behind HHC Motorsport team-mate and 2015 champion Will Palmer.
Palmer was in charge of race one on the Indy Circuit on Saturday, claiming pole position, the win and setting a new lap record as he finished ahead of Mexican duo Fernando Urrutia (Douglas Motorsport) and Rodrigo Fonseca (Lanan Racing). Newey, meanwhile, was eighth to claim pole for race two.
Newey then made a strong start in race two on Sunday before going on to score a dominant second win of the season ahead of Jack Lang (Lang Sport/Gorse Motors) and Fonseca. Palmer was back on pole for race three in which he took another lights-to-flag victory, this time ahead of Newey and Tom Jackson (Chris Dittmann Racing). The result meant the runners-up spot for Newey in the championship ahead of his third-placed rival.
By winning the 2015 title Palmer has secured the championship prize package which includes £35,000 cash, a GP3 test drive with ART Grand Prix and a special Pirelli award of €50,000 if he graduates to the GP3 Series.
“To win half the races this year is something I couldn’t have possibly dreamt of at the beginning of the season,” said Palmer. “I’m delighted that we have been able to be so successful this year so I have to say a big thank you to the team for that.”
The meeting also marked the last appearance of the Ralph Firman-designed BRDC F4 car, which will be replaced from the 2015 Autumn Trophy onwards by the all-new Tatuus-Cosworth car. The Autumn Trophy gets underway with the first four races at Snetterton on November 7/8.
Pirelli-shod Burton is RAC champion!
Ford Escort Mk2 driver Phil Burton won the 2015 WWRS RAC Rally Championship on last weekend’s Trackrod Historic Cup rally using Pirelli tyres.
Burton and co-driver Mal Capstick finished just 0.4 seconds behind the Porsche 911 of category winners Tim Mason and Graham Wild. It was enough to secure the title.
The pair also won the Open Category after leading that section all day, despite taking a one-minute penalty due to booking in early to the start of the second leg on Saturday morning.
The championship win comes after Burton took two years out of rallying to concentrate on his business. “We’ve achieved what we set out to do,” said Burton. “The car needed some attention and then we looked around at what we could do and picked the RAC championship. I wanted to benchmark myself against some of the very quickest drivers in the historic Escort Mk2s.”
Local man Payne takes Trackrod victory on Pirelli tyres
Charlie Payne won the Trackrod Forest Stages on Saturday, using Pirelli tyres on his Ford Fiesta World Rally Car to dominate the event and proving that local knowledge pays off in rallying.
Payne, from Ripon, sowed the seeds of victory by taking a 20-second lead on the second stage of the North York Moors rally. From there he saw off a challenge from fellow Pirelli-runner Stephen Petch Jr, who was driving an R5-specification Ford Fiesta.
When Petch retired from the penultimate test, Payne and co-driver Carl Williamson just had to reach the finish at Pickering Showground to confirm their win. Payne also won the Trackrod in 2009 and 2010.
Petch’s demise meant multiple asphalt champion Damian Cole took the runner-up position after he swapped to Pirelli rubber part-way through the rally. It was the Ford Fiesta WRC driver’s best BTRDA Rally Series result this season.
Thompson keeps the pressure on with Pirelli’s help
Clitheroe-based Russ Thompson scored one of his best-ever REIS Ravenol BTRDA Rally results on last weekend’s Trackrod Forest Stages. The result sets up a title shoot-out for the Pirelli runner at the final round of the series.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 ace and his co-driver Andy Murphy finished fifth overall and took second position in the Group N class. They are now just four points behind Patrick Naylor in the title fight, with 20 available for a win. Naylor won the Group N section of Rally Yorkshire at the weekend.
Thompson has a chance to take the title at the final round of the 2015 championship, the Cambrian Rally. The North Wales event will run on October 17. Last season Thompson and Naylor finished second and third in the series and were separated by just three points.
Coming up next time: British Superbike action from Silverstone, Dutch Supercar Challenge from Spa-Francorchamps and rallying from the Colin McRae Forest Stages.
