Race Report - Rounds 11 and 12: Brands Hatch, 18/19 September 2004

Two more action-packed races for the Michelin Porsche Club Championship headlined the racing at Brands Hatch over the weekend (18/19 September), as Peter Morris (968CS) and Ian White (3.2 Carrera) claimed the wins.Richard Lambert (Carrera 3) bagged a class two double while Ian Oliver (911E) inflicted two rare defeats on Fraser Robertson (944) in class three.Race oneAlthough rain was threatening, the track was still dry for Saturday's race. Chris Egginton and Morris made it an all 968 front row, while White was put to the back of the grid with a 10-second penalty after contact with Derek Gregory's 944 in qualifying.Morris and Egginton leapt immediately into the lead with Tony Brown (Carrera RS) slotting into third. However, the race was short-lived as red flags flew on lap four after Colin Ingram (911SC) and Mark Lillington (968CS) crashed heavily on the exit of Clearways. Ingram ran wide onto the grass and as he came across the track Lillington had nowhere to go. Both cars were badly damaged, but the drivers were unharmed.The re-start was good news for White, who was up to 14th and a blistering start then put him into the top 10 by the first corner. Up front, Morris led from Brown and Egginton but problems soon developed for Egginton when his engine started to overheat. He pressed on, but the car steadily lost power and finally cut-out on the last lap as he limped home seventh. "From about lap eight the temperature was in the red; I had to let them go," explained Egginton who would miss Sunday's race as a result.Up front, Brown was attacking Morris but pushed just too hard into Paddock for the tenth time. The Carrera locked up and spun backwards into the gravel. "I just out-braked myself nibbling at the back of Pete's car," admitted Brown.With Brown gone, Morris was away and clear but a major contest was raging for the other placings. Incredibly, White had tigered his way up the order and claimed second from John Williams (3.2 Carrera). "I can't remember the race; it was so mad!" reckoned White. "Before the race I thought if I could get fourth I'd be happy."Williams spent much of the race having to hook a sticking brake pedal back up with his left foot and then suffered clutch failure on the run to the line! Having been tipped into a spin at Graham Hill Band, Craig Rapp (3.2 Carrera) recovered to fourth while Lambert drove a cracking race to take fifth and class two, keeping Adam Egar (911SC) at arm's length. "Luckily I was ahead of the shunt," said Lambert after the early dramas.The battle for class three was another highlight as Robertson and Oliver went head to head. Up to Clearways, Robertson inadvertently tagged the back of his rival's car and spun him round. Sportingly, Robertson then waited for Oliver to catch back up and re-take the lead. "That's not the way I race," said Robertson of the contact.Results - 16 laps:1 Peter Morris (968CS) 15m01.802s (78.39mph); 2 Ian White (3.2 Carrera) 15m08.119s; 3 John Williams (3.2 Carrera); 4 Craig Rapp (3.2 Carrera); 5 Richard Lambert (Carrera 3); 6 Adam Egar (911SC); 7 Chris Egginton (968CS); 8 Andy Purdie (3.2 Carrera); 9 Richard Harrison (3.2 Carrera); 10 Ragdan El-Akabi (Carrera RS). Class winners: Morris; Lambert; Ian Oliver (911E). Fastest lap: Tony Brown (Carrera RS) 55.132s (80.06mph).Race twoWhite took his first victory of 2004 in Sunday’s race but it was a race that ended in controversy after a first-lap clash with Morris at Druids. Morris spun down the order and later protested the incident. The stewards ultimately ruled that White should keep his race win, but he was given penalty points on his licence and a fine.After the first lap drama, White led every lap. Rapp was his nearest pursuer until he spun at Graham Hill Bend on lap seven, with the closely following Brown taking to the grass in avoidance. Brown’s grassy trip allowed class two winner Lambert to take second, but a recovering Brown wrested it back a few laps later. Meanwhile, Morris was on the move up the order.By lap 15, he’d fought back from an opening lap 14th and turned it into fourth, but now he had to catch Lambert. He closed relentlessly and these two enjoyed a fine scrap in the later stages, Morris was eventually able to get past, but by then the front two were way beyond recall. Morris drew a couple of seconds clear of Lambert while Rapp was a detached fifth from Egar in sixth. Oliver won a hectic battle for class three honours, but only after Robertson had run wide onto the grass exiting Graham Hill Bend with around three minutes of the race to go. Robertson fought back but gave best by about half a second. Results – 27 laps:1 White 25m14.504s (78.74mph); 2 Brown 25m19.168s; 3 Morris; 4 Lambert; 5 Rapp; 6 Egar; 7 Purdie; 8 Harrison; 9 El-Akabi; 10 Oliver. Class winners: White; Lambert; Oliver. Fastest lap: Morris 54.929s (80.36mph).The Michelin Porsche Club Championship resumes at Castle Combe on 2 October.