CALM All Porsche Trophy’s Thruxton Thriller
Christian Walker set the pace at the CALM All Porsche Trophy’s 40 minute pit-stop Thruxton outing at the end of September.
His SP1 class Cayman was perfectly set up for the UK’s fastest circuit and he put in one of the best Qualifying laps of the season, with a time almost 3 seconds clear of fellow front row resident Warren Allen in his rapid Cayman.
Richard Neall was a further second back in his 911 alongside Will Curtler who was another driver dialled into this fast and flowing circuit, his SP2 Boxster taking P4 on the grid. The third row comprised Chris Mills in his 911, sharing the car with Dave Gardner, followed by the James Brodie and Jamie McHugh/Wil Arif Boxsters. Dan Crego was next up, the sole SP3 runner after Ryan Mone’s 944S2 failed with a broken clutch fork at the start of Qualifying.
The SP4 class contained just two 924s; Ivor Mairs in the blue car usually driven by Hugh Peart and Chris Valentine’s car shared with local specialist David Hornsey who duly put the car on the 7th row of the grid, an exceptional performance in one of the lowest powered cars present at this fast circuit.
Race - 40 minutes
The field was depleted by three non-starters; the McHugh/Arif Boxster suffering driveshaft failure, Garry Goodwin’s Boxster with a severe vibration and Ryan Mone’s clutch unable to be repaired in time for the
start.
After a clean start Christian Walker was almost a second ahead of a fast starting Richard Neall, Warren Allen and Chris Mills by the end of the first lap. He extended this lead, 10 seconds ahead after 4 laps and cruising to what looked like a comfortable victory. However, after 10 laps Christian pitted with a delaminated tyre and was forced to retire.
This left a two -way battle for the lead between the closely matched Richard Neall 911 and Warren Allen’s Cayman. Richard led for the first 6 laps, with Warren getting ahead as they lapped slower traffic on lap 7, and holding a slim advantage all the way to the pit stops which they took together. Richard emerged first, and opened a “massive” 2 second gap over Warren.
Never one to give up, Warren whittled this lead down and for the final few laps they were nose to tail with the Cayman harrying the 911 all round the circuit, closer than ever as they started the final lap. It was neck and neck into the chicane, with both cars right onthe limit, but it was Richard to the fore as they sprinted to the line taking the narrowest of victories after a truly spectacular and memorable duel. He was delighted with the win and was a deserving winner of the Driver of the Day award.
It wasn’t just the leading pair entertaining the crowd, with action galore throughout the field.
The Chris Mills/Dave Gardner 911 was close behind the Neall/Warren battle for the first few laps, but after losing touch in traffic and an extended pit stop, they eventually finished 7th overall.
Third overall and SP2 winner was Will Curtler after a quietly impressive performance to completely dominate the class, alone on track after the first few laps, he finished an excellent 30 seconds ahead of the next Boxster.
The action was all behind Will, with a midfield foursome of Jon Walker, James Brodie (Boxsters), Dan Crego (968) and Rich Gravestock (Cayman) tied together and swapping places all round the circuit.
Shortly after the pit stops, Walker’s Boxster expired in a cloud of blue smoke, taking no further part in proceedings. The Crego/Gravestock pair pulled ahead of the Brodie Boxster, and went head to head for the rest of the race separated by fractions and exchanging places until the 968 finally took the flag for the SP3 class win and 4th overall. Gravestock was later penalised for speeding in the pit lane, dropping behind the Brodie Boxster which finished in a fine 5th overall and class P2, with Martin Mason taking the final SP2 podium place.
Notable retirements were Chris Valentine’s shared 924 from a comfortable SP4 class lead with the engine “sounding horrible”, The Ben Raincock/Mike Curtler Boxster and Kenn Van Hauen’s spectacular supercharged 911 with a transmission lubrication issue.
The Valentine/Hornsey retirement left the SP4 class win to the enthusiastic Ivor Mairs’ 924.
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