The first race of 2026 was the fast and flat Croft Circuit near Darlington. It was a race against time to get the replacement clutch master cylinder fitted and the final mandatory series stickers only went on to the car the night before. With just Mike driving there was a lot of track time over the weekend.
Friday Testing:
Having travelled up on the Thursday and dropped the car at the circuit the night before, we were ready for the 4x 30 minute sessions spread over the day. We experimented with a couple of different roll bar and suspension stiffness settings. First - an improvement in how the car turns into the corners. Second - increasing our corner exist grip at the rear.
With a lot of mixed cars on track we didn't crystallise the lap times - but he evidence was clear from the optimal lap time - which was dropping rapidly.
We had only just scraped through the noise test at 105dB so took the long afternoon break to change the exhaust (the usual culprit) for our spare. However as we did this we found the actual cause was a broken weld on the catalytic converter. We have a spare too - but it's a std cat rather than the 100 cell sport cat.
Saturday Qualifying:
The weather had turned overnight and rain showers were rolling through. Despite it stopping raining, the circuit was very wet. We stuck with the worn Yokohama A052 tyres which coped well and our lap times steadily came down during the session.
Keeping the car on the road was the name of the game so Mike didn't push it too hard. We qualified in P12, 4th in SP2 behind a couple of SP3 cars which excel in these conditions with the 50:50 weight balance, and in front of a couple of SP1 Caymans.
Saturday Sprint Race #1:
It was a quick turn around for first of two 15 minute sprint races. The track was a little damp, but with a clear dry line appearing. Mike got a good start loosing a place to a Boxster initially, but then using the straight line speed to dispatch the two 968's within the first couple of laps.
However the front running Boxster's were just a second or two a lap quicker and pulling away. A Boxster and a Cayman (both new cars) had some issues so we finished P8 - a solid start to the weekend.
Saturday Sprint Race #2:
We were the last race on the card at nearly 6pm due to late running of the timetable. Red flags came out on the first lap, after a big accident coming out of the chicane. The driver was fine - but the car was unfortunately written off.
Mike had heard a noise from the brakes - so pitted for an inspection. Nothing was obviously wrong. This unfortunately forfeited the grid slot and so we had to restart form the Pit Lane dead last. We caught and overtook several of slower class cars but lap times were slower and the brake noise still there so Mike brough the car home in 13th place.
On inspection we found one of the the brake pads (fitted after qualifying) was in back-to-front! So not pushing it to hard was the right approach.
Sunday Endurance Race #3:
The racing at Croft starts at midday on Sunday so not to disturb local church bells! Our pit stop race was the 2nd of the day and whilst overcast the threat of rain had mostly disappeared.
Mike got a good start again - gaining two places in the first couple of laps. Then setting fastest laps of the weekend to close in on the main SP2 Boxster battle ahead. A fastest ever lap for the car of 1m34.9s got him there on lap #5.
Our lap timer was coming loose from the dashboard mounting - so was ripped off down the main straight and thrown into the passenger footwell. Once the cars in front sorted themselves out and started lapping cleaning - we couldn't keep with their pace and they started to get away.
We had a spin out of the chicane when pushing a little too hard and then pitted for the mandatory stop. Tyre pressures were very high - so it took slightly longer to bring them down and were were back out. The 2nd half of the race was straight forwards, lapping consistently but slightly slower without any lap timer or cars around for reference.
We finished a fantastic P10, overall a great weekend with a lot of track time and some brilliant time gains made.
It wasn't until the Christmas break that we opened the garage and looked at the car. Still dirty from Spa like some LeMans homage - it definitely needed some TLC - starting with a wash!
There is always a list of jobs, and it only gets bigger the more we want to improve the car. Stand still and you're going backwards is the saying.
The biggest issue from Spa was the clutch slave cylinder which was bodged together. We had a genuine Sachs replacement to fit and the process of bleeding the clutch is both difficult and tedious and requires a combination of manual pedal movements and pressure bleeding. Air will be in both the pedal end, the long line and the rear cylinder.
Another casualty of the Spa clutch change was that one of the Gearbox mount bolts got cross threaded. The nut is welded into the bracket so that needed replacing. It was handily the left hand side - so made access to the Clutch Slave easier too.
It took 2 attempts to get the correct bolt length and thread pitch which is a fine 0.75mm version - we got there eventually.
Our front drop-link boots are torn and the bottom bolts are also bent from the strain put on them - likely from hitting the kerbs. I had ordered new set before Spa - but never got the chance to fit them.
Weight Saving:
For a long time we've known we had a lot of excess wiring still behind the dashboard and into the doors. We bit the bullet and dedicated a full day to removed the dashboard completely and set out pulling the individual wires back from the doors towards the centre of the car and the fuse box.
Short Shifter Upgrade:
We've also been struggling with gear selection so decided to upgrade the Ebay short shifter to a fully bearing based version from Ben Auto Designs. The difference was immediately noticeable.
Finally - A standard oil and filter change was completed and we also flushed the brake fluid through all four corner callipers followed by setting of ride height and wheel alignment. Our brake discs and pads plus tyres were good for a Shakedown run.
Shakedown:
With the car ready - we booked a track day at Snetterton as a shakedown to before entering the first race of the year.
However mid way though the morning we started to get issues with the clutch not returning to position. This is a sign of air in the system - but we'd bled it so many times there had to be another issue.
After looking more closely we could see the Clutch Master Cylinder (located at the pedal) was pushing fluid back into the reservoir so it's seals were gone.
That spelt the end of an otherwise productive day and signalled the need for yet more clutch bleeding!
The CALM All Porsche series again joined up with the Porsche Club Racing Netherlands group to jointly race in Belgium on the SuperSpa weekend event.
With practice and qualifying on Friday, followed by two hour long races on Saturday, we were looking for a drama free weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. We didn't get it - but it turned pretty well in the end.
With a lot of bureaucracy associated with towing in Europe we actually
got there and back without a hitch and so were early to the track and our
accommodation. After a long wait at 9pm we setup up the car in the F1 pit
garages looking forwards to a Friday consisting of signing on, scrutineering,
free practice and finally a 30 min qualifying.
All of that went perfectly, with no FIA kit dramas and sailing through
the more stringent FIA scrutineering. In free practice Mike was
immediately fast and absolutely in the mix with the best times in our class,
until on the last lap when the car coasted down the escape road at the top of the rack.
When it was recovered back to the paddock, we found the clutch pedal to
the floor and we had fluid leaking. The slave cylinder was new this
year with the gearbox change so we were perplexed as to the cause.
Removing the slave cylinder, revealed it had blown the internal seal and we then found
the clutch release arm was jammed solid. So, at about lunchtime we were resigned to
starting the now familiar process of removing the gearbox...
It was obvious we weren't going to make official qualifying, and that
session came and went during a surreal afternoon where we lost all sense of
time.
With the gearbox out we resolved the clutch arm issue but then noticed
more debris in the bell housing. Taking the clutch pressure plate off revealed a destroyed
clutch disc - again just one race meeting old.
Questions like why and how were futile at this point. We had the spare stock clutch and refitting it was straightforward, but
we still had to sort the slave cylinder. We had fluid leaking
(spraying at times) everywhere as we tried to repair it. Everyone in our garage
lent rags and wipes - mostly to keep themselves dry, I think.
The guys from the Amsterdam based RFF Motorsport (Race for fun!) team helped build a working cylinder from ours and a used (but also leaking) spare from
another team. They weren't confident, so a new one was sent from
their base, along with a slew of parts for other cars later
that evening.
As we reassembled the gearbox it was now getting dark and everyone was
pretty tired. We missed the BBQ night and got some takeaway kebabs, finally
taking the car for a run down the paddock road at about 10pm.
The German BMW
series in the adjacent garages gave us a massive cheer as it fired up - having
seen it in pieces for virtually the whole day.
The race directors note came back, permitting us to start the
race from the back of the grid. so fingers were crossed for race day.
Race 1 (V. WET)
In rained heavily all morning and the races before us were running full
wets. Garage chat was around how good the Yokohama AO52 is in the
wet. Ours were one meeting old, rather than newly scrubbed and the weather
radar showed it getting worse not better, with 20mm of rainfall predicted in
the next hour! We switched to our PS4 set of tyres.
The assembly area pre-gridding was a frankly a shambles, with the
marshals turning up late, then seemingly only able to line up the cars from the
first row backwards which took an age to sort out. When the race start
time approached, they just sent the cars (in whichever order) onto the green
flag lap with the safety car setting a ridiculous pace.
As I joined the track and went through the gears, the clutch pedal didn't
come back up properly. I was aquaplaning on rivers running across the
track and I thought seriously about just pulling in. Every other gear shift I had to use my toe to ping the pedal back up into position - so limited
my gear changes to the minimum.
The cars at the back, never caught the rolling start train (if there
even was one) and I was unable to overtake cars going much slower until the
start line. As we did so, there were no green flags to indicate we were racing and then the yellow panels were flashing down to Eau-Rouge and all the
way up the end of the Kemmel straight. Eventually we went green, now some 90 seconds behind
the main field….Ridiculous!
I just got into a smooth rhythm, driving with
soft inputs to the steering, acceleration and braking. I started catching and passing cars. I
had no reference to position or relative lap times as I was also being lapped
by the GT3 class cars myself. You couldn't see thing when behind another car such was the
extent of the spray. The windscreen was
fogging around the edge and it gave me bad motion sickness - like being on a
boat :-).
I pitted mid race, adamant of calling it a day - and after 30 seconds longer
than necessary - I was convinced to carry on. “You're doing
well", they said - so I went back out.
In parc-ferme they gave the news I'd gained nearly 20 places and we'd made the class podium. I was the
fastest car on track at times. I had genuinely no idea - unbelievable!
Race 2 (Dry)
In between the races we re-bled the clutch several times to try and
remove any residual air in the system which was affecting the
pedal.
The forecast was for the rain to pass and a dry line was starting to form in the race before us. We switched to the A052 tyres which would be
ideal in the damp to dry conditions.
The assembly area process hadn't improved, but at least the safety car
train drove slowly enough for everyone to keep up for the rolling start this
time.
It was wet, with a light shower passing as the race started. Mike
made a great start and held onto the class position well in the opening lap or
two. But then dropped back several places in one lap.
As the track started to dry, he got into the groove and his lap
times were much faster than the cars in front. One by one he regained the
positions by being fast through Eau-Rouge, using our straight-line speed,
then being really good on the brakes.
Mike drove us back onto the tail of the class podium Boxster's and
968's. Twice we were side-by-side at the end of the Kemmel straight - just
unable to make the move stick past the Mchugh Boxster.
With the gap at around 5 seconds, we pitted for the driver change.
Initially this went well but then discovered the belts were upside-down, so this
cost an extra 10 seconds delay.
I was lapping consistently fast, catching cars in front and regained the
positions lost in the stop, however cars overtaking us cost us a lot of
time.
On the back straight the vigour with which double yellow flags were being waved made it
obvious there was a big incident. Slow down and be prepared to
stop! A 968 had hit the wall on the inside of Blanchimont, which is a 120mph
5th gear corner for us. There was debris everywhere and it was obvious it would
be a red flag, ending the race prematurely. The driver was getting out as we
passed, and that was all that mattered.
The best lap times from both drivers were identical and P3 in class was
well deserved - a first trophy as a two-driver pairing. To cap the event
off we were awarded driver of day for not just getting the car to the
grid - but driving to the podium.
The CALM All Porsche entourage returned to Silverstone after a good few years absence. For us it's been 8 years since we raced the International layout, which was the scene of my first ever podium in the BRSCC series.
Friday evening we unloaded into the XXXL F1 garages at the "Wing paddock" (4 or 5 cars in each one) and collected a new set of Yokohama AO52 tyres which Steve at SCP had fitted for us.
Some cars had been testing and disasterously a Boxster had been written off 😢 tangling a Radical reminding everyone that Motorsport is dangerous.
We had done a decent amount of prep on the SIM and thankfully there was no track limits line joining the Hangar Straight to deal with.
After the earliest possible scrutineering, Mike was on track in the open practice to get up to speed with the layout and scrub in the tyres.
After a few laps we expected him to set some fast times, but he appeared in the pit lane - car stuck in 2nd gear. No not again please......
We didn't panic, got the car up in the air and set about diagnosing the issue. A metal sleeve on the shift cable had come loose and jammed the mechanism. Cable ties and tape to the rescue and we were just about ready for qualifying.
An aim of the weekend was to learn the tyre pressure scaling characteristics of the Yokohama's so we were a little unsure of pressures to set. The side wall is softer than the Nangkang so it needs a really aggressive warm up.
We got out early and with a relatively clear track got straight to a high 1m17s lap. A combination tyres going off and traffic meant I was limited to a few fractional improvements through the session. I finished 13th on a grid of 33 cars and 5th in SP2 Boxster class.
Race 1
I got a great start from the outside lane, putting two wheels on the grass to get round the car in front. From there the track opened up and I was able to take the racing line. I was so focused, I didn't even register the car to my right stalled causing havoc off the line.
I got a great run onto Hangar straight out powering the yellow Ashgood car and set after the Cayman Vs Boxster battle in front. As they banged doors into Stowe I got up the inside and was now 2nd in class. The Cayman with it's 3.4 litres got back past the next lap and we got backed into the group behind, succumming to block pass from the White Ashgood car to push me off he podium.
The safety car was out for a stranded 911 and on the restart the 987 Boxster that had stalled overtook before the line which was a slam dunk penalty. I had to retake 3rd in class on the penultimate lap going round the outside at the final chicane. A really busy but rewarding drive.
Our petrol guage has been playing up so we emptied the tank afterwards and found I'd been carrying an exta 20 litres 🤔 from the perpetual "just put a few extra in" calls over the last few events.
The stock guage mechanism is a flimsy coat hangar float style potentiometer and it fails with the vibration and g forces of racing.
We will fit a dry break drain hose and do it every time now.
Race 2
Mike lined up on the 5th row after my finish and again got a decent start dropping just a single place to 10th off the grid and holding his own around the first lap.
Heading into othe first corner at around 100mph the car two in front spun and in lifting off the gas he went around too. The car stalled and took over 30s to restart properly. Finally he got going, now 10s off the back of last place.
Mike closed and passed the SP4 cars quickly but was getting lapped by the leaders now so lap times were up and down.
He pitted early and we reset tyre pressures. The left rear was at 35psi and too hot.
In the second half, with a clearer track Mike's lap times reduced getting to 1m19.0 and lapping consistently within 1s.
He chased down and passed several SP3 cars and the slower SP2 Boxsters. The last act being to close a 10s gap to a novice invitation class Cayman PDK. It took solid set of fast laps and a great pass into turn one on the penultimate lap to finish 21st and 8th in class.
A great recovery drive over the 40mins race which sets us up nicely for a pair of 1hour races at Spa next month.
One week before the CALM All Porsche Snetterton event we'd just finished re-fitting the gearbox and clutch and re-assembled the car for the second time!.
A quick 100m buzz up the road and back to ensure all the gears are working before we commit our entry. In the euphoria of success we forget to latch the bonnet pins & over it came smashing the front of the car.
So we were now 5 days from the event and needing a bonnet and replacement windscreen. 1 step forward and 2 steps back!
Fast forward to Friday 5pm, and we finished fitting the bonnet, pins and stickers having had the windscreen replaced the day before. Talk about cutting it fine. Off to he circuit we went.
Qualifying:
The CALM ALL Porsche Trophy is putting out some fantastic grids this year. Another 30+ entries for this weekend evenly distributed across the power to weight based classes. Despite the forecast hot sun, immediatley before qualifying we had a heavy rain shower pass over. We were confident it would dry out so stuck with our Nangkang tyres. However we were reminded just how bad these are on even a slightly damp track, even with a dry line appearing as we struggled 10s a lap down on what we are capable of. Through the session we improved and were several seconds up on the last lap only to be thwarted by a slower car overtaking an even slower car into the apex of the last corner.
The result was qualifying at the back of the SP2 boxsters (P15) instead of half a dozen places forward. Well discuss tyres later.
Race 1:
I think we had 4 laps racing, as the time was shortened due to a breakdown on the first green flag lap and then an extended delay after the second go around.
We eventually got going and the racing was brutally tight. Everyone was desperate to pass the car in front of them and we got stuck in a 4 car fight for 15th position. We weren't helped by two SP1 class Porsche Cayman's coming throught from starting at the back, and there was contact in-front if us around the infield section as a result. I had the pass done on the back straight only for yellow flags to appear - so had to back off. And was side by side over the line but we were out of time, finishing P13 and not really making any progress in the SP2 class of Boxster's.
The race result took a long time to be published with a queue of drivers in with the clerk of the course long after it finished.
Race 2:
Startting 11th after the penalties from Race 1 were handed out, Mike got a flying start. But then struggled getting up to speed and with gear shifts needing more clutch now we had a stock road clutch in place. We had to take evasive action onto the grass at one point to avoid some erratic braking lines in front. We were quite a few seconds down at the mid point - but came back strong closing several seconds per lap as times improved, Mike was lapping at the pace of cars several places ahead as we finished in P16.
The longer 40 minute pit stop race gave us an opportunity to show our pace and Mike got a great start, holding onto the cars in front and maintaining position. About 10mins into the race the SC boards came out for the Safety Car due to a stranded car on the infield. It was a short SC period and racing luckily resumed quicky with cars all bunched back up and fighting for position again.
Time for our 'undercut' plan to play out. Mike pitted the next lap - first car in, just as the pit stop window opened at 15 minutes. We have a timer in the car, as otherwise we'd have wasted another lap going past the start/finish to confirm sight of the 'PIT OPEN' board. Our change over was done smoothly and effciently (we had a plan and practiced it this time) and out we went - into a completely empty track with clear air in front.
It took a lap to get tyres to temp and thereafter I set a string of laps in 2m14s. By the time the pitstop window was over we were up 5 places to P11.
I had a few seconds lead over the SP3 leader who can set comparable times. Feeling the pressure & we both set fastest laps on 3 of the last 4 laps, now into the 2m13s. Lapped traffic wasn't kind to me (one overtake was with 2 wheels on the grass) and my cushion had disappeared.
The race time was up - but we had another lap to complete and I was sideways into turn 1, offering half a chance at the pass. Somehow I braked late enough to the hairpin to hold position and see the lap out over the line. A really enjoyable race - all round.
Summary:
In reality any hopes of a class podium were scuppered from qualifying. This is at least the 3rd time we've come off worse by not having a tyre that can cope with a damp/drying track. The Nangkang AR-1 is a fantastic tyre in the dry and we've done over 20 heat cycles on this latest set, ao good VFM too. But perhaps it's time for change.
We didn't publish an update on our annual winter maintenance. But overall we focused on improving our brakes which had degraded over the last year. The four calipers were sent off for rebuild and we also changed the master cylinder - opting for a larger diameter 997 GT3 one to provide a firmer pedal feel.
We then spent some time having the car re-mapped again. Whilst the fuelling was good we managed to improve the mid-range torque and the consistency of power all the way to the red line.
From our pre season track day we knew we had to change the front brakes. Easy enough until we found the caliper bolt thread was stripped. We had this on another car - so luckily had the Timesert kit to redrill an insert.
Lastly, we fitted rear adjustable tow arms making the rear alignment much easier to do and independent of the camber.
Brands Hatch:
The meeting was changed from a single day to a full weekend at short notice which caused some last minute re-planning.
As usual this event was a full grid of a mix of Porsches and V8's from the Bernie's series.
Qualifying:
I went to assembly really early (the GT Cup cars had garages so it wasn't in use) so got out onto track in the first few cars of the 46 strong grid.
This meant is got some pretty clear laps early on and set a decent time, a second faster than i'd ever been. A couple of laps later I got the last corner right and shaved another half a second off.
Over the next few laps I was up on the splits by another half a second but traffic later in the lap prevented me realising the gain.
Very happy regardless and starting P2 in class, 18th on a maximum 46 car grid.
Race 1:
We had to reduce tyre pressures due to overheating in qualifying and the ambient temperature was up in the 20s now. The green flag lap was sketchy, to say the least. Like driving on marshmellows! But as we formed up 2 by 2 for the rolling start they were miraculously up to temp!
I got a great start making a couple of places into Paddock Hill and chose to go wide round the outside of druids; following the fast 911-964, as it tends to concertina around the inside.
This backfired as I was pushed too wide, got on the marbles and lost the back-end. I corrected the slide but lost 5 places as a result. 3 porsches and 2 V8s. I managed to overtake a couple on the back straight and settled into a queue of Porsches trying to get past as couple of V8's.
I was confident that once we'd cleared them I would be faster and get the cars in front. We got one and lap times improved instantly - just one more.
Going into the back section, I changed down to 4th gear and it wouldn't engage. Nor at the next attempt, and a third - even double clutching and rev matching. I went straight to 5th instead and set my fastest lap of the race having cleared the V8 Corvette. I'll be fine!
Until 3rd gear wouldn't go in either. An absolute Disaster. I decided not to pit on the assumption it was the gear linkage, and finishing as high as possible was important. I was now losing nearly 10 seconds a lap and several places every lap. Blue flags were being waved at me (embarrassing) where I changed fom 2nd to 5th. So I had to just keep out of of the way and limp it home in 29th position.
Race 2:
Well it never happened for us. We had to pack up and go home for the first time in a very long time.
On investigating the gearbox issue back in the pits, the linkage was fine but 3rd and 4th would only engage occasionally. Most likely the selector fork mechanism for 3/4 inside the gearbox has failed.
Two weeks after the event, we have sourced a used gearbox and after two attempts and a whole set of new clutch components we are good to go.
It takes us approx 12 hours to strip the rear of the car, remove and refit the gearbox whilst it's on axel stands. The tricky part as with all gearboxes is aligning the splined output shaft with the splines on the clutch plate. Once this is good (usually after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing) it just slides on and bolt it up.
The next round at Snetterton is now just a few days away.
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