Paragon Porsche Group C GTP at Silverstone 03/08/2007

Paragon sets Group C pace at Silverstone

Sussex-based Paragon Porsche set the pace during two races for Group C sports cars during the Silverstone Classic meeting last weekend (28/29 July). Mark Sumpter teamed up with five times Le Mans winner Derek Bell for the weekend, but unfortunately two small problems stopped the Paragon Porsche 962 from scoring a double victory.

It was an incredibly busy weekend for Sumpter. As well as racing the Le Mans car twice, he also competed in two Porsche races in his 911GT3 Cup car as a shakedown ahead of contesting the Silverstone 24 Hour race in September. Two class wins was a fine result from a field of 40 cars.  

But the main focus for the weekend was the pair of Group C/GTP races, which had star billing at Silverstone as the 25th anniversary of Group C racing in general and Porsche in particular was celebrated.  Sports car legend Bell (Pagham, Sussex) was invited to share the Porsche 962 of Sumpter and they set the pace all weekend, with Sumpter bagging pole by nearly a second. In the solo race on Saturday, Mark rushed off into the distance from the Spice SE90C of David Mercer and the Jaguar XJR12 of Justin Law.  But Sumpter was destined not to finish. With a lead of 22 seconds after 12 laps, he dived inside a group of backmarkers under braking for Stowe and brushed wheels with the 962 of Janine Payne. "It was 50/50," accepted Sumpter. "She was passing a car as well. We touched wheels and it broke the valve off the tyre. 

There was no damage at all," added Sumpter after the race.  Sunday's race was a 45-minute optional two-driver contest with a compulsory stop, but the action kicked off at the first corner. Mercer knocked Sumpter into a spin and the 962 ran backwards over the kerbs in the process. "He turned in as if I wasn't there," said Mark.  

Sumpter rejoined in tenth and set about charging up the order. "I had a really good race," he said, having scythed through to take the lead in just 20 minutes before handing over to Bell. However, after a couple of laps, Derek reported a loud bang and major vibration as a piece of the front aerodynamic splitter broke away. That was probably a legacy of the first corner incident and he wisely toured to the pits.  

Despite the disappointment of not finishing, Mark and the team were delighted to be clearly the quickest car of the weekend. "I'm really upbeat about the pace of our car and it was a fantastic weekend. The atmosphere was brilliant, but I was very busy running from one car to the other."  The next races in the Group C/GTP season are at Donington Park on 15/16 September.