The seventh round of the Porsche Club Speed Championship took place at Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire last weekend. Sixteen drivers attended on a day that remained dry but overcast for most the competition although the first practice run was on a relatively slippery surface because of overnight rain. An unfortunate and extensive spillage of oil by a previous competitor just before the timed sessions affected most of the racing line between Quarry Corner and The Esses. The drivers were naturally cautious over this section for their first timed run and this was reflected in the results although the second timed run was generally much quicker.

Five drivers competed in Class P4 with Donald Peach picking up his second trophy in as many weeks with a third place finish in 78.31 seconds. Sharing the 924 with Donald is current championship points leader Justin Mather who, despite an off in his first run, still managed to get within spitting distance of the fastest P4 time. In the end though, Justin had to settle for second place in 76.66 seconds. Bettering Justin’s time by just under a second, Graham Rose (924S) collected his fourth winning trophy this season with a fastest time of 75.73 seconds. Class P3 continued from last weekend with the same drivers who competed at Gurston and they finished their day with a similar outcome. David Hilton (3.0 911E) and David Chivers (3.0 911E) had a close battle for second and third with David Hilton conceding for third place with just 0.28 seconds in it and a 75.72 seconds finish. After consistently cutting his times down over the day David Chivers finished the day in second place with 75.44 seconds. In what is a fairly large winning margin for P3, Ian Wadsworth (911 Carrera 3.0) won his fourth championship round with a gap of 1.75 seconds and a fastest time of 73.71 seconds.

Mark Porter completed his motorsport debut at Castle Combe with a second place in Class P2. Driving a smartly turned out 968 Mark finished the day with a fastest time of 77.99 seconds. In contrast to Mark, Geraint Evans (3.2 911) has many years of sprinting experience under his belt which he put to good use at Castle Combe. His fastest run earned him first place in P2 and a time of 73.97 seconds. It was a great turnout for Class P1 at Combe. Six drivers entered with Karl Lupton skilfully driving his 360bhp supercharged, 968 engined 944 to third pace in 71.68 seconds. Less than three quarters of a second separated first and second place in P1 with Tim Barber (964RS) seemingly unaffected by any oil spills and completing his first run in 70.96 for second place. With the two percent penalty for slick tyres factored in, Paul Howells’ (1973 911RSR) class winning time was 70.22 seconds making him the fastest Porsche on the day and giving him his fifth class win of the season.