Battling Porsches to Light Up Brands
The challenging Brands Hatch Grand Prix layout hosts the third and fourth races of the 2021 Petro-Canada Lubricants Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli and Porsche Classic Boxster Cup seasons on Saturday May 1st, with the fight for crucial championship points already fierce.
Former double-champion Mark McAleer staked his claim for the title early with two outright and class one wins at Donington Park in the opening rounds, but close behind him in the points are three other former champions all keen to peg him back today. Chris Dyer took his Cayman to second and third placed finishes and sits second in the points, one point ahead of Pete Morris, with reigning champion Simon Clark fourth just three points further back, but it was Clark who won both races the last time the field took on the full GP circuit so he should be the man to watch.
2020 race-winner James Caley chased the leaders early in race one in his 997 C2S but will be making his first appearance in the series on the full Brands Hatch layout. Both Richard Ellis and Richard Bayston were out in new cars at the season-opener yet still recorded strong results, and they will only gain pace as the season progresses.
Class two was also extremely close at Donington, with Matt Kyle-Henney and series newcomer Richard Styrin taking a win apiece in their Boxsters, Kevin Molyneux the only other driver to make it onto the podium in the two races. Their battles were a highlight of the day, with Kyle-Henney twice recovering from poor starts, the first time to take the win with a move that saw him pass his rivals in consecutive corners, while Styrin announced his arrival with a win in race two.
Behind the lead three Paul Simpson, reigning Boxster Cup champion, took two fourth places on his first drive on slick tyres in the series. In a competitive class there are battles all down the order with Angus Archer, Carl Hazelton, Kevin Ludford and Bill Caley all scoring good points.
Will Heslop returned in style in the Porsche Classic Boxster Cup to take two wins in his Porsche Centre Wolverhampton car, followed home both times by Alistair Nelson and Mike Thompson. The series for similar specification Boxsters on treaded tyres offers a route into motorsport for new drivers, and it was pleasing to see Richard Forber twice take fourth place on his race debut.
The Boxster Cup field run alongside the slick-shod Porsche Club Championship field, lining up on their own grid behind the quicker cars. Both fields have two 25-minute races, and the testing Brands Hatch circuit puts a premium on handling and driver ability so the action should be as close as ever.
Qualifying is at 10.55 on Saturday morning, with the two 25-minute races at 13.15 and 15.25.
Image: Gary Hawkins