Round 5 - Silverstone International

RESULTS

Sean Mulcahy's PHOTOS

CAP’s Sunny Summer Silverstone Spectacular

Our fourth round of the season featured thirty-plus cars across the full Porsche spectrum, from 50 year old 924s and 911s to contemporary Cayman Cup cars created a great spectacle on the CALM All Porsche Trophy’s (CAP) first ever visit to the 1.8 miles of Silverstone’s International circuit.

Alex Willard shared her Cayman Cup with Porsche Silverstone coach Gary Marsh

Newcomers to the series included Alexandra Willard, in at the deep end for her first ever race, sharing her newly acquired Cayman Cup with the experienced Gary Marsh, and David Watt sharing a Boxster with Neil MacDonald. Mike Johnson was another CAP debutant in an immaculately prepared 911SC. Phil Waters returned to the track alongside rally-crosser Finn Voar in his first circuit race, at the wheel of the CAP supported 944 run by Chichester College. There was also the very welcome appearance of Miguel Sardo and Joaquim Penteado, travelling from Portugal to join CAP in their red 924.

Mike Johnson was another CAP debutant in an immaculately prepared 911SC

Qualifying

After a summer of heatwaves and sunshine, Saturday was considerably cooler but dry as 33 cars took to the track for Qualifying. There were few surprises at the front, with SP1 regular Warren Allen (Cayman) setting a scorching pace alongside Jamie McHugh (944 Turbo) on row 1, Christian Walker and Paul Simpson making up the second row in their Caymans ahead of Richard Neall (997) and the Grant Jackson/Will Heslop Cayman on row 3. Andy Duce was quickest SP2 Boxster ahead of fellow Boxster pilot Jon Walker for the fourth row, while the father and son duo of Nick and James Carey had their SP3 968 flying to line up 9^th, alongside Chris Bialan debuting his new Cayman.

Steve Lloyd was next up in SP3 in his beautiful blue 968, while the 3^rd in class Sampson family 968 was missing 4^th gear, and they would race with fingers crossed that it would hold up for the rest of the weekend. SP4 was headed by Andy Whiting’s 924S ahead of the enthusiastically driven Portuguese 924, with Hugh Peart’s similar car bringing up the rear, although Hugh was under strict instructions from Fudge to use only restricted revs while bedding in his new engine.

Richard Neall's 997 on the Silverstone grid

Race 1 - Saturday 20 minute Sprint

Christian Walker made a blinding start from the second row, and took an early lead from Warren Allen and Richard Neall. Further back Andrew Duce failed to get his car away cleanly, and there were some heart in mouth moments as the rest of the grid avoided the stationary Boxster. AD then started a charge through the field that took him up to 5^th overall and 1^st in class, although he was later penalised for a Safety Car infringement that dropped him down the order and off the podium. Warren fell to 3^rd as Richard Neall took 2^nd on the third lap, and the top 3 continued to mix it up for the rest of the race, rarely more than a second apart. Richard took the lead on lap 7, until Warren came past with two laps to go, having passed Christian into 2^nd on lap 10, with a final order of Allen, Neall and Walker in the podium positions. Paul Simpson was 4^th chasing the top 3 throughout, and just a second or so behind at the end.

First SP2 car was Jon Walker in his Boxster, with Will Curtler in an excellent 2^nd ahead of a strong Boxster field having enjoyed a close race with the Caymans of Chris Bialan and Grant Jackson, Garry Goodwin's 3^rd place Boxster, his dad Mike in the sister Ashgood car and James Harvey’s Boxster.

In the midst of this group was the leading SP3 car, the Carey family 968, piloted by James this time, and heading for the class win, chased by Steve Lloyd’s 968 and Adam Warner in his Boxster.

Nick Rinylo’s 911SC retired with a broken rotor arm

SP4 was dominated by Andy Whiting’s 2.5 litre 924S, even closing on Alexandra Willard’s Invitation class Cayman towards the end, and well clear of the 2.0 litre battle between Miguel Sardo and Hugh Peart, resolved in Hugh’s favour on the last lap after Miguel had a bit of a moment. Front row starter Jamie McHugh’s race ended after just 4 laps with an induction problem following a first lap spin, and Finn Voar’s race debut in the 944 lasted just 7 laps before clutch failure caused his retirement. The only other non-finisher was Nick Rinylo’s 911SC which stopped on the start/finish line with a broken rotor arm, causing a 2 lap Safety Car period until his car was very efficiently moved into pitlane by the marshals.

Race 2 - Sunday 40 minute Pit Stop race.

The summer sunshine returned for Sunday’s 40 minute race, and the 32 car field was a magnificent sight as it lined up in grid order before the start for the annual CAP “Class of 2025” photo shoot. Jamie McHugh’s 944 Turbo had been repaired as had Nick Rinylo’s 911SC, these cars starting at the back with the Chichester College 944 that had acquired a new clutch overnight thanks to some phenomenal work by the College students and lecturers who made up the race support team.

Jamie McHugh's 944 Turbo waited for the final lap before expiring spectacularly

This time everyone made a clean start and Christian Walker led, holding the place for the first 6 laps from the dogged Warren Allen, who overtook into the lead, holding it up to the pit stops. Richard Neall’s 997 got through for 2^nd ahead of Christian who pitted earlier than the other two, allowing Jamie McHugh’s mighty 944 Turbo into 3^rd after a charge through the field from the back of the grid. On completion of the pit stops Richard, was established in the lead from Warren, who’s pitstop was longer than planned, with Jamie 3^rd and Christian 4^th, this quartet well clear of the rest of the field led by Paul Simpson’s Cayman. Despite Warren’s best efforts, Richard hung on to take the win almost 2 seconds ahead, with Jamie seemingly guaranteed 3^rd after an epically close battle with Christian until the final lap when his engine spectacularly expired in a huge cloud of oil and smoke and briefly catching fire. This left Christian to comfortably take the final podium position.

Still a rarity on our grid, AD's 987

Andrew Duce took the SP2 win from Jon Walker after a race long battle, following Jon until the pit stops, then holding a very narrow lead for the second half of the race until separated by the charging Colin Tester’s Cayman. Colin fought his way from row 14 of the grid to 6^th place overall and 4^th SP1 behind Paul Simpson’s Cayman which had a relatively uneventful and rapid run to the final SP1 podium and 4^th overall. The final SP2 podium was taken by Will Curtler’s Boxster, another fine drive contributing to his “Driver of the Weekend” award.

The Penteado/Sardo 924 span spectacularly at Abbey

SP3 featured an epic race-long duel between the 968s of Steve Lloyd and Nick/James Carey, swapping places throughout, with Steve taking the win by just 0.3 seconds after 40 minutes racing. The Ed/Clayton Sampson 968 took the final SP3 podium, hampered by their gearbox problem, but happy to finish the race on the podium. Andy Whiting took a comfortable SP4 win from Hugh Peart after the retirement of the Penteado/Sardo car with a spectacular spin at Abbey Curve on lap 21.