Official Race Report from Paul Lawrence

Egginton and Morris win at Snetterton

Chris Egginton and Peter Morris made it a great weekend for Team GVR by taking a win each in rounds four and five of the Michelin Porsche Club Championship at Snetterton over the weekend (22/23 May).

In each race, the pair of 968s was split by less than a second at the end of 30 minutes of flat-out racing. “It’s a great result for the team,” said a jubilant Morris after his victory in Sunday's race. In the classes, there was double success for Rob Williams (Carrera) and Fraser Robertson (944).

Race one

Morris led the early laps of the opening race with Ian White (3.2 Carrera) in his wheeltracks and when Craig Rapp (3.2 Carrera) pitted on lap three with a throttle problem, Egginton was able to close in on the leaders.

However, while lapping slower cars at Coram on lap seven Morris lost track position and White and Egginton dived ahead in the resulting melee as the Club racers turned in another enthralling contest.

Attempting to depose White at the Esses, Egginton fell back to fourth behind John Williams (Carrera RS) but soon powered back into contention before driving around White at Riches to grab a decisive lead.

Morris following through into second place for a Team GVR one-two, finishing less than a second behind his team mate. “The 968 handles better over a race distance so I knew the move would work,” explained Egginton of his race-winning move.

Behind White and Williams the class winning Rob Williams fought off Tom Segrue (944S2) and Richard Lambert (Carrera 3) to win class two after another excellent battle. Splitting the class two leaders, in only his second race in the championship was Marcus Holden (3.2 Carrera).

Rounding out the top ten were Alvaro Crego (944 S2) and Colin Ingram (911 SC) who had a race long battle for position, while Robertson continued his superb winning sequence in class three.

Race two

Morris made a perfect start in Sunday's race to open up a good lead while the chasing Williams was tipped into a spin at the Bombhole by White. White and Egginton (after a tardy start) quickly closed in on the leader but White was soon heading to the pits with a broken rear screen. “A flying stone smashed it and the crew removed it as quickly as possible,” explained White.

This left Egginton to shadow his team mate to the finish. Meanwhile White was on a mighty charge having rejoined in eighth place. The Somerset raced stormed up the race order until he was on Williams’ tail again at the start of the final lap and challenging for third. “I thought he was the leader, so I let him through, not realising I was in third place at the time” said an amazed Williams. “I’m kicking myself!”

Fifth went to Holden after another impressive drive in close company with class two winner Rob Williams, while Segrue claimed second in class and seventh overall. Lambert came out on top of a three-way contest for eighth with Mark Rogers (911SC) and David Botterill (924 Carrera GT), while Robertson completed a class three double ahead of Chris Berry (911E).

Richard Lambert's story

Snetterton turned out to be another frustrating meeting. Jaz worked wonders with the car and I'd like to thank Dave in particular for stripping the engine, replacing 4 broken head studs and refitting it in the car in just two days.

I decided to take the car for a power test on Bob Watson's rolling road, the official dyno for the championship. The test showed the car to be 15 bhp down on power which seemed very strange as it ran smoothly and we couldn't find any problems.

In qualifying I was conscious of my supposed lack of power and subsequently very surprised when I set pole for class 2, with a quicker time than last season. It was very close though with Rob Williams and Tom Segrue within 2 tenths of a second outside of my time.

For Race 1 I was lined up on the grid on the same side as the two GVR 968's, and as usual they were both very slow off the line and I ended up boxed in and lost a couple of places by the first corner. What followed though was a terrific 3-way battle for the class 2 lead. Rob had a good start, followed by Tom. After a few laps I managed to get past Tom and quickly caught Rob, a desperate late braking dive up the inside into the chicane resulted in contact and we both lost momentum, Tom managed to slip by and I was back in 3rd position. The class one car of Marcus Holden joined us and we all had a great dice to the flag although I was unable to get back any more places and finished 3rd.

For the second race the car seemed a bit off colour, I was trying to keep up with Tom but struggling. Eventually Ian white managed to tag me at the chicane whilst trying to catch up with the leaders. I spun and lost a few seconds trying to start the engine. I rejoined, 5th in class and then had a good scrap with David Botterill in his 924 Carrera GT and mark Rogers in his SC. Fortunately I was able to regain 3rd and that was where I managed to finish.
There is quite a bit of work to do on the car before the next round, a rebuilt gearbox, new brakes and a better oil cooling system. Oh hum, only money !!