On the weekend of the 10th/11th September, the CALM racers packed up their bags and prepared to head to the island of Anglesey off the north-west coast of Wales. This beautiful and demanding circuit was new to the CALM calendar, and so many of the drivers took up the opportunity to arrive at the circuit on Friday and get in some testing ahead of the qualifying.
New boys, Andy Peck and Scott Lawson were welcomed into our paddock for the first time. Andy in his beautiful 968 and Scott who shared the CALM 924 with the Colonel, Karl Rossin. Both accounted for themselves very well with good driving standards and podiums to boot, we hope we see them again next year.
This exciting weekend would take a slightly different format to the usual, with Saturday featuring a short 20 minute qualifying session in the morning followed by 2 x 15 minute sprint races, and then a 40 minute race on the Sunday with the starting positions on Sunday being determined as an aggregate of the finishing positions from the two sprint races!
Qualifying started and the track was nice and dry giving the drivers a chance to put in some quick laps to try and gain the starting advantage in the races to come. As well as speed, this qualifying session also rewarded consistency, as each driver’s second fastest time would be used to line up the grid for the second sprint race of the day, all leading to a very intense 20 minute qualifying shoot out!
The first sprint race started with James Coleman in pole position in his number #47 Class 1 Boxster S, with Jon walker starting second on the grid in his Class 2 Boxster S. Roger Coy very impressively managed to get his Class 3 car up to start 3rd on the grid.
The lights went out and both James and Jon had a fantastic start off the line, heading side by side into the banking with Jon having the inside line. The rest of the field came through following quickly behind, with some very close but clean racing as the drivers continued round to complete their first lap. James managed to get his car back alongside Jon as they went side by side once more into the fast right handed “Church” corner with James coming out ahead this time, taking the lead where he remained for the rest of the sprint.
Racing further down the field was very close, with the battle for 7th place being fought out between 5 cars separated by less than a couple of seconds! Philip Waters had a great race in his 924, taking the win for class sp4, however a problem with his brake master cylinder meant that he had a lock-up and flat spotted his race tyres which would definitely put him on the back foot for the rest of the weekend.
The second 15 minute sprint race was the final race of the day. The sun was low over the horizon, with the waves crashing in on the beach nearby. The drivers lined up on the grid once more, the sun glinting off the cars as they eagerly waited for the lights to go out. James Coleman, once again starting in pole position got a good start off the line, and was away into first place, followed closely by Christian Walker, Calum Lockie and Sam Callahan. An enthusiastic entry into “Rocket in” by Sam saw him nearly loose the backend of his Boxster and an excited Jamie McQ followed suit, spinning off into the grass but recovering well and rejoining the field at the rear.
Further down the field, some fantastic defensive driving from Chis Campbell in his 944 S2, ensured a nice close bunch of 5 front engined Porsches including 968s and 944s plus a Boxster S fighting it out for 6th position. The racing was close with the drivers having to focus on both defending and attacking, however after many laps of fighting, Chris’s ABS failed and the other drivers eventually managed to get past and push on forward. An outstanding drive from Jamie McQ saw him recover the race and get his car back up from last on the grid, to finish 6th after passing Daniel Crego’s number #35 968 towards the end of the race. Karl Rosen had a fantastic race in his number #41 924, starting on the 7th row and 2nd in class, he managed to push up through the field and finish not only 1st in class SP4, but also between 2 SP2 Boxsters! A mighty drive from the Colonel himself.
As the drivers arrived at the circuit again on Sunday morning to prepare for the final 40 minute race of the weekend, they were once again greeted with what can only be described as perfect weather for racing conditions. Dry, cool and with a gentle breeze, at 11:40am the CALM Porsches took to the grid and waited for lights out. All of the cars got away cleanly with a good start, and as Jon Walker tried to pull away from the pack, through came a charging Sam Callahan in hot pursuit, determined not to let him get away. As the top two started to pull away, further down the field Dan Crego was very brave on the brakes, flying into “rocket in” from 6th position, passing James Harvey in his SPDA Boxster S and very nearly passing Jamie McQ as well, the two drivers separated by millimetres.
As the drivers all got into their rhythm and the race began to settle down, just under 15 minutes in as the pit-lane was about to open, the number #3 Boxster S driven by Fernando Grattini Lost control through church corner and wound up making heavy contact with the barriers, triggering a flurry of yellow flags, quickly followed by a safety car. Suddenly there was a rush of movement in the pit-lane as the drivers all made their way in to take advantage of the safety car and use this time to make their mandatory 60 second pit stop along with the necessary driver changes. A queue formed at the end of the pit-lane with each car desperately trying to make its way out back onto the track without loosing any positions. What had seemed to be a race that was settling down into a good flow, had now turned into a war of strategies as everyone tried to use the safety car to their advantage.
The cars were allowed back out onto track and briefly followed the safety car, before the clerk of the course decided to red flag the race so that the barriers could be properly repaired. After what seemed like an eternity, the drivers were finally lined back up on the grid for the final 15 minutes left in the race. A change in the grid for the restart, saw the second driver of the number #51 Boxster S, Christian Walker, line up on the front row alongside Sam Callahan who had skilfully managed to get his Boxster up from 4th on the grid at the beginning, to being second on the grid for the restart. Both got off to a good start but as they were fighting for position, Calum Lockie in the number #60 968 managed to take full advantage of the situation and get his car up from third on the grid into first place, leaving the other 2 cars behind as the battled fiercely for track position.
Church corner claimed a few more cars through the second stint of the race, seeing Christian Walker run out wide onto the grass but managing to keep the car pointing in the right direction and rejoin the circuit. Laps later Sam Callahan came off at the same corner, but wasn’t as lucky and wound up having a spin, sending him tumbling back down the order. After a fierce battle between Philip Waters and Ivor Mairs SP4 class, the Irishman claimed victory and finished 11th Overal. This was not the only podium for Ivor though, who throughout the weekend competed in a total 9 races and left Anglesey a happy man with a matching 9 podium finishes in class plus driver of the weekend!
All in all the weekend was a fantastic one, filled with great racing and close competition. Andy Peck in the number #68 968 Club Sport won the coveted “best turned out” award for his lovely car prepared by the British Army!, Richard Jones won the “Ryan’s Best Mate’ award in honour of all his efforts raising money for CALM (both on and off the circuit) and for always going the extra mile. John Broadley was presented with ‘Ryan’s best mate’ award for the season. His prize was a unique signed photograph donated by our series photographer, Sean Mulcahy, of Brendon Hartley with his LMP2 car. John’s backroom efforts are often overlooked but essential is keeping our series on alive.
Overall Winners – Sprint Race 1
1st – #47 James COLEMAN – SP1 Boxster S 2nd – #51 Jon WALKER – SP2 Boxster S 3rd – #44 Sam CALLAHAN – SP2 Boxster S
Overall Winners – Sprint Race 2
1st – #47 James COLEMAN – SP1 Boxster S 2nd – #51 Christian WALKER – SP2 Boxster S 3rd – #60 Calum LOCKIE – SP3 968
Overall Winners – 40 Minute Race
1st – #60 Roger COY / Calum LOCKIE – SP3 968 2nd – #51 Jon WALKER / Christian WALKER – SP2 Boxster S 3rd – #55 Jonathon LEESON / Chris LEESON – SP2 Boxster S
Here is just a selection of photos from our official photographer Sean Mulcahy – see the full gallery on Flickr.
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