With Philip, Sarah, and John Broadley all absent, it was down to Rich, Linda and Roger to run the show for our fifth round of the season – a pair of 20-minute races on Silverstone’s south International circuit.

Notably absent were the Charles Ivey boys; Karl Rossin’s appearance with a newly completed 924 was thwarted by the antics of cable thieves in one of the quarries he works in, electrician Karl being called in to repair the damage. Again. Returning for his second race with us this season was exuberant actor and stunt man Ant Sahota in his Boxster. New to CALM were Michael Wastie, Ben Grewcock, Ethan Hall, Anthony Jones, plus the best looking driver of the day, Nathalie McGloin.

Qualifying

Andy Whiting’s 924S played him up in the qualifying session and he only completed 4 laps before retiring to fix the issue; #18 Chris Valentine was to be at the front of SP4. #7 Christian Walker put his Cayman S on pole with #165 Warren Allen nearly a second behind. #22 Jason Pelosi led SP2 in his Boxster with the Careys quickest in SP3.

Race 1

The first of our two races ran in bright and dry conditions, providing a perfect backdrop for another entertaining Porsche contest. The race got off to a dramatic start at the front, with Warren Allen’s Cayman S grabbing n early lead from pole-sitter Christian Walker. Richard Neall’s Porsche 911 settled into third, with Colin Tester and Christopher Mills completing the early top five.

Allen held the advantage through the opening laps, but Walker was never far away. By lap seven, the gap between the two Cayman S drivers was down to a mere 0.155 seconds, setting up what looked like a thrilling fight for the lead. Walker then made his move and took control of the race on lap eight.

From there, Walker gradually built his advantage. Allen remained within striking distance, but Walker kept his head and delivered a strong final stint to take the chequered flag after 17 laps in a time of 20:58.704. His 1:12.959 lap was also the fastest of the race. Allen finished 3.128 seconds behind to take second, while Richard Neall produced an excellent drive to bring his Porsche 911 home third overall, 23.488 seconds behind the winner.

Christopher Mills finished fourth in his Porsche 996, having started third, while Colin Tester completed the overall top five after gaining two places from his 7^th place starting position.

In SP2, Jason Pelosi took class honours in his Boxster S, finishing sixth overall, just 0.267 seconds ahead of Ethan Hall. Jamie McHugh started 13th to finish eighth overall and third in class.

There were also strong performances further down the field. Benjamin Hall gained an impressive seven places, from 18th to 11th at the finish, while Nick Goldberg also gained seven places to finish 16th overall. Andy Whiting produced the biggest climb of the race, taking his Porsche 924S from 28th on the grid to 17th overall for the SP4 win.

At the sharp end, though, it was Christian Walker who had the final word. After being forced to chase Allen through the opening laps, Walker took the lead and controlled the remainder of the race to secure the overall victory. Allen’s second place and Neall’s third completed the SP1 podium.

Aiden Crockett landed what can only be described as one of the strangest and unworthy penalties: after lap 9, a fault with the 924’s throttle meant he couldn’t manage more than about 2000 revs so at white flag-worthy pace he returned to the pit lane, only to be flagged down and told to report to the Clerk, where upon he received 2 points on his licence for driving too slowly.

Christian Walker took the flag, 3.1 second ahead of Warren Allen after a terrific tussle with Richard Neall’s 997 third.

There were five DNFs, including William Curtler, Ben Grewcock, Wil Arif, Fernando Getino and James Brodie, while four cars were recorded as non-starters.

Race 2

The second race provided plenty of drama, attrition and recovery drives as competitors battled through a fast-paced 17-lap contest. At the front, Warren Allen produced a commanding performance in his Cayman S - starting from second on the grid, Allen seized the lead at the start and only relinquished it momentarily to Walker, leading every lap on his way to victory. While Christian Walker set the fastest lap of the race with a blistering 1:13.199, pressuring Allen before his race came to a premature end after just five laps Behind him, #17 Richard Neall delivered a strong race to finish second, with #173 Chris Mills completing an all-SP1 top 3  in third.

In SP2, Jason Pelosi once again demonstrated impressive pace, taking class honours and finishing fifth overall. Behind him, William Curtler (#32) produced one of the drives of the race, climbing from 20th on the grid to finish second in class and eighth overall. Jamie McHugh (#25) crossed the line ahead in the battle for class podium positions, however a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits dropped him behind Curtler in the final classification, leaving McHugh third in SP2.

The SP3 category saw #73 Nick Carey secure class victory after a consistent performance throughout the race, while #27 Steve Lloyd and #2 Phillip Goldberg completed the class podium.

Unfortunately, several competitors were unable to make it to the chequered flag. Nathalie McGloin (#51) retired early after coming into the pits, reporting that her Porsche was still suffering from vibration issues following an earlier brake disc change which the team had hoped would cure it. Dominic McGee and co-driver entry #111 were unable to take the start due to a problem with their differential, while #3 Fernando Getino was sidelined before the race after a ball joint issue prevented the car from competing.

Aiden Crockett made contact with Chris Valentine braking for Village, with Aiden spinning off onto the hard standing on the left. Chris continued, not expecting to see Aiden again before the end of the race but before long Aiden was in his mirrors and took 2^nd from him, ultimately landing the Driver of the Day award for sheer determination.

With hard-fought battles throughout the field, impressive class performances and some memorable recovery drives, Race 2 provided an entertaining conclusion to the CALM All Porsche Trophy’s weekend at Silverstone.

Linda had another strong day of merchandise sales with the new baseball caps – now available in five colours – proving popular.

Our next outing will be at Castle Combe for two 20-minute races on Bank Holiday Monday, 31^st August.