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Official Race Report from Paul Lawrence Egginton's Snetterton double Egginton swept the board with two victories from pole position and added two fastest laps as Team GVR dominated the weekend. Peter Morris followed his team mate home in both races to record the team's second one-two at the Norfolk track. "It’s been a brilliant weekend," said Egginton. Race one John Williams (Carrera RS) made his customary flying start to lead the pack into the first race while Morris immediately started putting pressure on the lead 911. Morris got his reward as Williams spun at the Esses on the opening lap. “Too optimistic on cold tyres and paid the price,” explained Williams. In the confusion Ian White (3.2 Carrera) slipped ahead of Morris who grabbed the place back at the end of the main straight on lap two but ran out of tarmac and kicked up a huge cloud of dust. Quick as a flash Craig Rapp (3.2 Carrera) grabbed the lead, but lost it again as Egginton went by at Riches on lap three. Rapp then spun down the order at the Esses. All of that drama put Morris back ahead, but Egginton was closing in quickly and dived ahead of his team mate at the Bomb Hole on lap six to take victory. “It was a really tight battle for the lead which luckily I just won,” said the winner afterwards. Williams resumed down in 12th place after his spin and charged through the field in fine style. By the flag, he was very close to snatching third from White, but the Somerset racer held on tenaciously to score yet another podium finish. Having held off Lambert for the entire race, Mark Rogers’ poor exit from Russell on the penultimate lap cost him victory in class two in his 911SC, and brought a cry of despair from his supporters on the spectator banking! Robertson again proved the best of class three pack and added another victory to his impressive tally. Race two Eggington stormed off the grid in Sunday's race having made what he declared as his best ever start. Once ahead, he was never seriously troubled again as he raced to a commanding victory However, Morris was having a much tougher time and was edged down to fourth place by Williams and White in the opening charge. “You can’t win a race on the first lap so I had to be patient,” said Morris. And so it proved as he hounded White mercilessly and probed for a way past, which he found at half distance by driving boldly around the 3.2 Carrera into Riches. This left Williams still in second, but over the final laps Morris closed in on the troubled 911. A damper on Williams' car had broken, and he was powerless to defend as Morris closed in. Inevitably, the 968 swept ahead on Senna Straight with two laps remaining. “Still I’m happy with a podium,” said a philosophical Williams afterwards. In class two, Lambert was made to work extremely hard for victory by Rob Williams (Carrera) and was quite relieved when the chequered flag came out. “Nice to get a win, but it could be easier next time,” said Lambert. Behind Lambert and Williams, Rapp finished seventh after a monster spin at Coram while holding third on lap two. That was followed by a less dramatic second rotation at Russell. Class three, meanwhile, fell once more to Robertson who now has six class wins from seven rounds to his credit. The Michelin Porsche Club Championship season now has a summer break until round eight at Oulton Park on 31 July. Richard Lambert's story Back on form The last meeting at Snetterton was disappointing, for me with two 3rd places the best I could manage so the car was shipped of to Jaz for some tenderness. With a rebuilt gearbox and a new oil cooler I was hoping for an improvement in fortune this time round. I decided to test on Friday afternoon but even though the gearbox was great and the car felt strong I wasn't feeling at one with the car and the times just didn't come. Qualifying for race one felt much the same and I ended up 3rd in class 2 and 8th on the grid. Rob Williams set a fantastic time for pole and Mark Rogers is also getting quicker and quicker setting 2nd fastest. With loads of fuel and freshly bled brakes I lined up on the grid expecting Rob to disappear into the distance. As the red lights went out I made a great start but as usual Mark made a better one and by the end of the first lap it was Mark, Rob then me. After a few laps Rob suddenly slowed and headed for the pits, he believed he had a puncher, so I moved up into 2nd and was chasing Mark. Catching Mark was just part of the story and getting by him was to prove very difficult. Eventually it took a missed gear change on the penultimate lap for him to slow enough to allow me to get by. There was elation on the pit wall from my pit crew and heads in hands from Mark's! Now Mark knows what it is like to be Tangoed!! Setting a new lap record in the race was great and laid to rest my concerns that the car was off the power so I was looking forward to the next race. Sunday was also my birthday, 31 again, so a win would be a great present. Aside from qualifying being ridiculously early it seemed to go well and my time improved but I still ended up 2nd in class to Rob. I think he must have a qualifying engine!! Mark was a fraction of a second behind me so it was going to be close again. It was viciously hot for the race, why can't we race in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt ! Anyway, we had Mike Clapham in his 968 in front of us and as expected he was slow off the line and the 911's screamed past. Mark screamed past Rob and I and then proceeded to scream straight on at the first corner and off the track! Rob went wide as well and I dived through to lead the class. With Rob on my heels I couldn't rest for one minute, the slightest mistake would allow him to get past so I tried to drive as smoothly as I could. Surprisingly I was able to keep a small gap between us and even the spinning Craig Rapp didn't cost me too much time. I really felt like I deserved the win as I had worked so hard. After the race Sarah had grabbed the commentator and made sure he interviewed me, it made a nice change as the lower class winners are usually ignored. I need to give the car a clean before Oulton and baring disasters I will see you there.
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