Bill Taylor Memorial Race
'That's the most fun I've had for ages,' said Jamie Masarati after the Bill
Taylor Memorial Porsche race at Donington Park this afternoon (Sunday October
22nd). Partnered with his son Piers in their GT2 racer, the Masaratis romped to
victory in the annual mini-enduro run by the Motorsport Division of the Porsche
Club (Great Britain) in memory of the popular Porsche racer.
Unfortunately, the race had to be red-flagged after two laps when Nigel Rice
went off heavily at the Old Hairpin in his 944 Turbo. A solid front end impact
with the barriers left Rice needing attention to a leg injury. The re-start gave
Jamie Masarati a real problem when the car stalled on the grid and he was
swamped by the pack. That left Mike Pickup to storm away from the pack in the PK
Sport 911GT2 he was sharing with partner Caroline Lucas.
With Masarati charging back up from outside the top 10, Pickup built a
sizeable lead in the early laps of what would now be a 45-minute race. However,
at the end of the fifth lap, the lead car limped into the pits with a flat front
tyre. Basil Demeroutis then took over the lead briefly in his Supercup GT3, but
a lap later Masarati swept ahead after a blistering charge up the order.
Pickup resumed after a quick wheel change and was able to retake the lead
when the Masaratis had their driver change. Piers rejoined close behind his team
boss but knew that Pickup still had to make the driver change. 'It was pretty
busy, but I knew dad had done the hard work,' said Piers. Sadly, just before
Pickup's planned stop, the car pitched off into the barriers at Coppice.
'Something broke on the rear,' said Piers, who was sitting close behind at the
time.
Now, the Masaratis had a lead of almost a lap and Piers reeled off the
remaining laps at a measured pace. Demeroutis handed over the John Bussell to
bring the car home second. 'Delighted. A little bit of luck came our way,' said
Demeroutis.
The battle for third ended when the Steve Winter/Paul Goldstein 911 spun at
McLeans and was collected by the Paul Edwards/Barry Robinson 993 Supercup.
Instead, the similar car of Robi Bernberg/Adam Richardson took third while a
cracking fourth went to Dave Benett/Paul Fuller. 'Cracking fun,' reckoned
Fuller, despite being short of several important gears.
Sterling drives by Adrian Dixon/Martin Harvey (Carrera 2 RS) and Andrew
Delahunty/Martin Parsons (968CS) completed the top six finishers. Best of the
Classic competitors were Richard Stringer/Steve Jaques (911SC) in ninth overall,
while Colin Broster/David Rothwell (911T) handled the leading class three
Classic car. Eighth overall was a tremendous result, meanwhile, for David Clarke
and Phil Woolley in the former's class three Cup specification 924S.
Handicap victory, and therefore the superb Bill Taylor trophy, was fittingly
won by his sons Simon and Garry racing their late father's Carrera RS. They
narrowly beat Mark Lillington and Neil Harvey (924 Turbo) in the handicap
result.
Results (35 laps): 1 Jamie Masarati/Piers Masarati (911GT2) 45m 29.446s
(90.31mph); 2 Basil Demeroutis/John Bussell (GT3) 46m 35.673s; 3 Robi Bernberg/Adam
Richardson (993 Supercup); 4 Dave Benett/Paul Fuller (Carrera 993); 5 Adrian
Dixon/Martin Harvey (Carrera 2 RS); 6 Andrew Delahunty/Martin Parsons (968CS).
Fastest lap: Mike Pickup (911GT2) 1m 13.212s (96.24mph).
