Official Race Report from Paul Lawrence

Chamberlain's Snetterton double

Richard Chamberlain was unstoppable at Snetterton on Sunday (10 April) as he scored a brace of victories as the Michelin Porsche Open Series kicked off. In the classes, Paul Hogan and Mark Jackson also completed Norfolk doubles, while Charles Winterhalder and Mark Harris shared class four spoils.

Qualifying

"Brake balance wrong, understeer in the slow stuff and oversteer in the quick corners," reported Chamberlain to his pit crew part way through the qualifying session. They set to and fixed the problems to allow their driver to set the pole time on the very last lap of the session. This bumped Rupert Lewin down to second, but he was just thankful to be on the grid after damaging the front end of his GT2-R in testing on Thursday. "The guys have preformed miracles to get it ready again," said Lewin.

Race one

Chamberlain immediately powered into the lead from the start of the first race, with Lewin chasing hard and staying within reach until a broken gear linkage sent the 996GT2-R coasting into the pits. This left Paul Howells (993 GT2) in a comfortable second place while the 911GT3 RS pair of Gerry Harrison and Keith Butcher fought out an entertaining early battle for what was now third position.

Sadly the final few laps proved very difficult for all the drivers as Steve Burtt (993RSR) coated much of the bottom part of the circuit with oil when his engine blew up spectacularly. "The oil made things very tricky indeed," admitted Chamberlain, who was relieved to bring his flame-spitting 935 safely to the flag.

An impressive performance from class three winner Wayne Jackson (944 Turbo) netted fifth overall, eight seconds ahead of class two winner Paul Hogan (996 Turbo). Meanwhile, Charles Winterhalder emerged to clinch class four in his 944.

Race two

In the second race Chamberlain scampered off into the distance while Lewin, who had to start from the back of the grid, worked his way through the field in style.

Lewin's charging progress was briefly halted as Howells put up some resistance until the silver GT2-R went by on the lap six to take a deserved second place. "I'm happy with my performance today and I'm looking forward to tackling Richard on the tighter tracks," said Lewin afterwards.

Behind third-placed Howells, Harrison and Butcher renewed their earlier battle with the Harrison just holding on to fourth, while Jackson again impressed with a strong drive to class honours and sixth overall.

Seventh – and another class victory - went to Hogan after an early spin took the edge from Mark Albutt's challenge in his 911GT3 Cup car. Mark Harris (944) triumphed in class four this time around.

Porsche Open Championship  - RACE 2
POS	NO	CL	DRIVER	NAT	CAR	TIME	LAPS	GAP	MPH	BEST
1	5	1	Richard CHAMBERLAIN		Porsche 935	20:03.581	17		99.25	1:09.429
2	16	1	Rupert LEWIN		Porsche GT2-R	21:06.604	17	1:03.023	94.31	1:12.854
3	3	1	Paul HOWELLS		Porsche 993 GT2R	20:18.066	16	1 LAP	92.30	1:14.356
4	9	1	Gerry HARRISON		Porsche 911 GT3 RS	20:51.394	16	1 LAP	89.84	1:16.887
5	36	1	Keith BUTCHER		Porsche 911 GT3 RS	20:54.230	16	1 LAP	89.64	1:16.587
6	47	3	Wayne JACKSON		Porsche 944 Turbo	21:26.551	15	2 LAPS	81.93	1:22.932
7	75	2	Paul HOGAN		Porsche 996 Turbo	20:09.081	14	3 LAPS	81.36	1:23.454
8	38	2	Mark ALBUTT		Porsche GT3 Cup	21:41.857	14	3 LAPS	75.57	1:28.917
9	99	4	Mark HARRIS		Porsche 944	20:25.688	13	4 LAPS	74.53	1:30.994
Not Classified
	46	3	Paul HERBERT		Porsche 914-6	20:40.635	8	N.C.F.	45.31	1:32.502
	27	4	Charles WINTERHALDER		Porsche 944	6:19.381	4	D.N.F.	74.09	1:31.947
Fastest Lap
	5	1	Richard CHAMBERLAIN		Porsche 935	1:09.429	8	162.88kph	101.21
	47	3	Wayne JACKSON		Porsche 944 Turbo	1:22.932	2	136.36kph	84.73
	75	2	Paul HOGAN		Porsche 996 Turbo	1:23.454	14	135.51kph	84.20
	99	4	Mark HARRIS		Porsche 944	1:30.994	5	124.28kph	77.22

	Start Time : 17:30
Weather / Track : Sunny / Dry	End Time : 17:50
Copyright © 2005 MST Sports Timing Ltd. All Rights Reserved	Printed : 17:52 Sunday 10 April 2005