Brands Hatch GP 2019

24/6/2019

On Saturday 4 May, Porsche Centre Bournemouth were at Brands Hatch GP Circuit for round two of the Porsche Classic Restoracing Championship 2019.

Our number 86 Boxster carried a series of improvements, including another 15kg weight increase due to our stunning performance at Donington Park, making a total of 45kg weight disadvantage.

Despite the weather outlook of rain, we began the session on dry tyres ready to push for the pole position. After a few laps of bedding in the breaks properly and getting the tyres up to temperature, Ben was happy to push on and see what we could get out of the car. We were once again able to dominate the group and Ben put in two of the fastest lap times to qualify on pole for both races.

We were happy to see another dry 25 minutes for the first race. Leading from the front of our group in classes one and two, Ben was up with the rest of the pack by the second corner, Druids. Leading for the whole race, Ben even managed to pass a few class two cars during the 25 minutes, showing our dominance yet again. It was another great win for the Porsche Centre Bournemouth.

Due to the race schedule for the day, we had to wait until later in the afternoon for race two. This gave the team a good chance to see some of the top of the range race cars drive around the Brands Hatch circuit, including Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s and McLaren’s. With the added motivation to go fast, race two would hope for more action within the higher class cars.

As the organisers started to call the Porsche Restoracing Championship cars to the holding area, we were greeted with a downpour of rain. We decided to hold off leaving the paddock until the last minute so that we could see what the other teams chose for tyres in the last race. All teams committed to the dry tyres, in the hope that the weather would clear in time for the race. Knowing we had a good pace in race one, we stuck with the dry tyres as well and luck was on our side as the rain stopped and the sun came out. Crashes in the Blancpain GT race meant there was a lengthy delay to our race and a sign that we might have made the wrong tyre choice given that the track wasn’t drying out. With this, we started to see the Class one cars change to wet tyres for the last race. However, along with the rest of our Restoracing Class, we stayed on dry tyres that kept everyone on a level playing field.

Eventually we were able line up on the grid and start the final race of the day. Again, we had a great start and closed in on the classes ahead. As we watched Ben start to move through the pack there were a few drivers, less experienced in the damp condition, spinning off in spectacular fashion. This made for a great race to watch which was well worth the wait. Ben again showed his experience and great finesse with the Boxster taking another win and clean sweep for the day.

In summary, it was another great race day for the Porsche Centre Bournemouth and we continue to lead the championship. We are back at Brands Hatch on the Indy circuit on Sunday 7 July.

A vlog can be found on our YouTube Channel and click here to follow our journey.

Please contact us on info@porschecentrebournemouth.co.uk if you would like more information.