ROL SPORTSCAR CHALLENGE
Silverstone, 22 March 2003
The opening round of the new
ROL Sportscar Challenge was won comfortably by pole-sitter Richard Chamberlain in his mighty Porsche 935R.
Andy Shepherd, in his carbon-black AC 428 Frua, gave chase and endured a rather more interesting time than was apparent from outside.
Having broken the gearshift, searing heat from the exhaust system then began to burn the carbon fibre sills and fill the car with smoke!
Third home was Ian Stinton in a most welcome addition under the new rules, his Harrier-Cosworth LR9C.
This former British GT car also has Le Mans history when in spider configuration. Michael Harding won Class B and came fourth on the road in his former Supercup Porsche 993RSR.
Class A winner Stephen Archer made it a Porsche clean sweep of the podium, and even drove to and from the circuit in his road going 993RS.
Andy Green brought his Morgan Plus 8 home sixth. Hopefully word will spread and his outing will encourage more similar cars to join us in the near future.
Oliver Harding (Porsche 964RS) and Marc Charlton (Lotus Sport Elise) were the final two finishers.
Marc suffered a recurrence of the drive coupling failure which prevented him from qualifying in
session. His best lap time suggests it is a pairing to look out for at future rounds.
Having cured a misfire after qualifying, Roger Bowman was looking to make progress from his fifth spot on the grid.
A broken throttle spring thwarted his ambition after only three laps.
Richard Chamberlain very generously lent his Lotus Elise road car to Ty Watkins for the day.
Problems with an engine sensor caused the management system to go into shutdown mode as had happened in qualifying and forced retirement after the pace lap.
As this first race was so early in the year, the field was rather small with many cars still being readied.
Nevertheless, everyone enjoyed a good day's racing and no less then six further owners of
Challenge cars were present to see events unfold.
It augurs well for the future.Images: Linzi Smart (Smartpics)
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