Paragon Porsche Group C GTP Spa Francochamps 16/07/2006

Sumpter takes two more Group C podiums

Mark Sumpter claimed two more podium finishes when he raced his Porsche 962 Le Mans car at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit over the weekend of 15/16 July.

The former British GT champion raced the 1991 car to second place in the opening race when partnered by Chris Goodwin and then followed that up by taking third place in the following race on Sunday.  

Supported by Paragon Porsche, Sumpter is racing the car in most of the Group C/GTP races this season and was elated at the experience of driving the car at the Belgian track, which is widely regarded as the greatest race track in the world.  

They qualified fifth fastest, with Sumpter and Goodwin setting almost identical lap times on the high-speed track. "It is such a fantastic car to drive," reported Mark. "It was pulling 197mph at the end of the straight, and with a slight change to the gearing we could have hit 200mph!"  

Saturday's two-driver race ran for an hour and they were able to move through to second place as other drivers had problems. However, American visitor Aaron Hsu proved uncatchable in his ultimate specification 962.  On Sunday, Mark drove solo in the half-hour race and pulled off a bold move to pass the Jaguar of Christian Glasel on the opening lap to make sure of finishing third. "I think the other racing I've done in Porsches and in GT racing is a big help, as it allows me to be quick from the start of the race while some of the other drivers tend to play themselves into the race over the first few laps," said Mark.  

"That was a fantastic weekend," he said of the Belgian event. Although Mark will have to miss the next Group C/GTP races at Silverstone on 29/30 July due to family commitments, he will be back in action at the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France over the weekend of 19/20 August. "We've got some work to do on the car before the races at Paul Ricard," he said.