dbRacing - Race Report Croft 12/13th June 2004

Porsche Open Race Report Croft 17/18th April 2004

Car - 944 Turbo

Practice

I had done some wet testing in the 944 the previous day but had yet to really get to grips with the very different way that the car handled compared to the 924 Carrera GT. With comparatively few cars on the grid I succeeded in getting some clear laps and managed to qualify 7th overall, just behind the extremely quick 930 of Briian Robinson. I had entered the car in class 2 so the other cars in my class were running on slick tyres, with Henry Firman in his GT3 third on the grid and the class 3 Michelin Cup tyred cars of Paul Livesy and Paul Howells on the next row.

Race 1

Having experienced the way the 924GT gets off the line I did n ot expect to get a good start against all the 911's around me. ........I was not wrong. They immediately all got 30 yards on me and Anthony Oliver in his 964 RS also passed me on the run to Clervaux. I closed under braking and Livesy seemed tentative through Hawthorn. I hung back a little and planted the throttle through the chicane and passed him immediately on the exit. Anthony Oliver tried to make a break for it but by the time we were back round at Clervaux I was right on his tail. I performed the self same manouvre on him, though the pass took a little longer as his car seemed to have more power than the 993 RS of Paul Livesy. Next in line was Paul Howells, with the GT3 of Henry Firman still within sight. Initially I started to close, but as the slick tyres of Henrys car warmed he pulled away and the speed of Paul and myself was exactly the same. The next half of the race was very quiet, really more like a test day, but I did learn about speed differentials as I lapped the class 4 944's and was myself lapped by the 935 of Richard Chaimberlain and the GT2 of Rupert Lewin. For the last few laps however Paul Livesy came back at me as he got heat into his tyres and chased hard. For the final 3 laps he was close behind me but I maintained my pace just enough to keep him behind me for a 2nd in class and 5th overall. Not a bad result at all !

Race 2