Team Report from Peter Morris, PMC Midlands Porsche 996 GT3

The next round of the GT Cup took place on Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent. With a 45 minute qualifying session and two half hour races all taking place on Saturday, it was set to be a busy event for teams and drivers.

Brands is an excellent round” Peter Morris enthused, “there's a good grid of thirty five cars, lots of makes and models and loads of track time, all in a one day event.”

Morris set the car up during a test day on Friday [8th August] which was in the dry, although the weekend looked set for wet racing.

“Friday went pretty uneventfully,” Morris explained “There was a small issue with the exhaust, but other than that we were just working on getting a decent set up on the car.”

During Saturday morning qualifying Morris bedded in a couple of sets of wet tyres ready for the races. Towards the end of the session Paul Mace (Porsche 996 GT3) put in a quick class leading lap time of 1m 34.053 and Morris went out to try and beat it, coming back with a 1m 34.111. “It was very close, but not quite enough to be first in Class 2” said Morris.

New PMC Midlands livery for Morris' Porsche 996 GT3

The top three on the gird went to the Class 1 Porsche 997 GT3's of Steven Rance, Paul Hogarth and Mike Donovan, with Paul Mace and Peter Morris first and second in Class 2 starting behind them.

Race 1:
Steven Race took the early race lead after reclaiming the spot from a fast starting Paul Hogarth and the Class 1 Porsche GT3 trio of Rance, Hogarth and Donovan had a really close race, swapping top three places at the front.

Paul Mace had a good start and moved up into third place before Mike Donovan reclaimed the place.

“The Noble of Mike Gardiner passed me on the start and then held me up for the first five laps” explained Peter Morris who had dropped down to fifth, “I could see Paul Mace just ahead; it was really frustrating trying to get passed the Noble.”

Class 2 Win: Morris waves to the crowd

However as soon as Morris did find a way around Gardiner's Noble he was pushing Mace hard, looking for a move to take the top Class 2 position. I raced Mace for about three laps before a move at the top of Paddock Hill stuck,” said Morris who then went into the lead of Class 2. Paul Mace was hard on the tail of Morris looking to reclaim the position when he picked up a puncture. This eventually put an end to his race when he had to retire on lap 17.

“It's a shame Paul had to retire a couple of laps from the end” said Morris, “we were enjoying a really close race.”

Peter Morris claimed fastest lap in Class 2 which remained the fastest race lap in Class for the event.

Race 1 Results: 1 Paul Hogarth (Porsche 997 GT3/C1) 19 laps in 30min 09.501; 2 Mike Donovan (Porsche 997 GT3/C1) + 0.462; 3 Steven Rance (Porsche 997 GT3/C1) + 2.879; 4 Peter Morris (Porsche 996 GT3/C2) + 27.535; 5 Colin Broster (Porsche 996 GT3/C2) + 30.477; 6 Mark Stephenson (Porsche 997 GT3/C1) + 57.500

Race 2: The beginning of the second race was very wet. Morris was starting from the second row of the grid but on the more slippery outside lane and with an extra 60kg of success ballast.

Morris lines up on the second row at the start of a wet race 2

Both Mark Stephenson (Porsche 997 GT3) and Colin Broster (Porsche 996 GT3) managed to pass Morris into the first corner.

“I'm not chasing for championship points and didn't want to risk my car in the wet in the last race” explained Peter Morris.

After a couple of laps Morris managed to make a move on Stephenson, but then spent a frustrating ten laps trying to find a place to pass Colin Broster in the Class two lead Porsche 996.

Morris attempts to pass Broster in the wet

“I made a number of moves on Broster but just couldn't find a safe way around him in the wet” said Morris. “There were quite a few places with yellow flags which didn't help”. By the middle race distance Peter Morris was struggling with his tyres and lots of over steer.

“I suddenly noticed Mace in my rear view mirror” added Morris, “He was like a rocket ship coming through from the back of the grid. Whoever put a set up on his car for the race did a good job!”

Morris tried to hold off the Porsche 996 of Mace, but didn't want to end up in the barriers, so let him through in the hope that Mace could make a move on Broster and he could take advantage of this.

“Mace went off chasing Broster, but still managed to pass him for the Class lead” explained Morris “my tyres had gone off too much and I just couldn't keep up with Mace's pace”. The second race victory went to Mike Donovan's Class 1 Porsche 997 GT3 after an early race lead by Paul Hogarth. “I was expecting to see more of the Ferraris from Class 2 that added aero packs for this round and moved up into Class 1,” said Peter Morris “but they seemed to enjoy a good race in the midfield.”

Morris receives 1st and 3rd in Class trophies

Race 2 Results: 1 Mike Donovan (Porsche 997 GT3/C1) 18 laps in 30min 47.471; 2 Paul Hogarth (Porsche 997 GT3/C1) + 5.686; 2 Steven Rance (Porsche 997 GT3/C1) + 42.153; 4 Paul Mace (Porsche 996 GT3/C2) + 51.567; 5 Colin Broster (Porsche 996 GT3/C2) + 54.470; 6 Peter Morris (Porsche 996 GT3/C2) + 1:01.466

“It's been a really enjoyable weekend,” Morris sums up “a big group of drivers, teams and the GT Cup organisers went out for a curry on the Friday night and we had great laugh dancing!

“I'm happy with my cars performance as I've only got a standard 996 GT3 so a first and third in Class, plus fastest lap is pretty respectable.” Morris added: “I'm only disappointed Craig had to loose his bet when I couldn't beat Mace in the wet – I'd better win it back at Croft!”

The next round of the GT Cup takes place at Croft on 27-28 September.