2003 Race Reports

	Donington Park, England, 25 - 27 July 2003
	Race 1 - Gary Pearson 1st, David Mercer 2nd (left), John Nielsen 3rd (right)	Race 2 - John Nielsen being presented with the winners trophy. Jim Graham (left) Brian Bailey (right)
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	Entries for Race 1 & 2 Driver Number Car Nick Adams 28 Spice SE 88C Nick Atkins 98 Tiga GC286 Richard Bateman 37 Tiga GC287 Philipp Brunn 24 Spice SE 88C Harvey Cooke 111 Spice SE 88C John Edwards 6 Porsche 934R Jim Graham 66 EMKA Aston Martin Nigel James 2 Porsche 962 Martyn Konig 33 Porsche 956 Justin Law 60 Jaguar XJR 10 David Mercer 21 Spice SE90C Michael Millard 7 Prosport LM 3000 John Nielsen 12 Kremer Porsche 962 CK6 Garry Pearson 4 Jaguar XJR11 John Pearson 78 Ecosse C285 Chris Randall 88 Nissan NPT90 Nick Randall 11 Porsche 962 Michael Schuster 51 Argo JM19C Ian Stinton 22 Harrier GT1 Bill Tully 23 Harrier LR9 Race Report Two tremendous battles for the lead wowed onlookers of the Group C races at Donington Park. Saturday saw Gary Pearson (Jaguar XJR-11) take the narrowest of victories from long-time leader David Mercer (Spice-Cosworth SE90C). This was not before some fantastic side-by-side racing action, as Mercer defended his lead hard for 25 minutes. Smoke from a failed turbo seal on the Jaguar gave Mercer brief hope in the final laps but Pearson clung on. A fraught opening lap saw second position change four times as Justin Law (Jaguar XJR-10), John Nielsen (Porsche 962CK6/2), and Pearson duelled. Nielsen dropped to sixth with third gear selection troubles, but was soon promoted to fourth following the retirements of Law and Nick Adams (Spice-Cosworth SE88C). Law's V6-turbo suffered throttle cable failure on one bank, whilst a drive shaft let go on the Spice. Nigel James' new acquisition, the New Man liveried Porsche 962C, had also visited the pits with a misfire by this time. At the ten-minute mark, Chris Randall (Nissan NPT-90) held third and was taking a defensive line to keep Nielsen at bay. Martyn Konig (Porsche 956), the eventual double Class 2 winner, and Harvey Cooke (Spice-Cosworth SE88C) were embroiled in a tussle further down the order. Nielsen regained third at McLeans. Shortly afterwards Cooke retired with a misfire. Michael Schuster (Argo-Judd JM19C) took an unorthodox route around the outside of Redgate allowing Nick Randall (Porsche 962CK6/3) to close. They would catch the Nissan and Schuster would take fourth before ending his day in the Coppice gravel trap. All eyes looked skywards at 20 minutes when drizzle threatened to spoil proceedings. Fortunately, it passed without drama, though we had now lost both Tigas in quick succession. Richard Bateman retired with crown wheel and pinion problems and Nick Atkins, making a welcome return, pitted feeling nauseous from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. The culprit holes in the monocoque were sealed for Sunday and the problem solved. Former Le Mans winner, Nielsen took victory in Race 2 for Porsche Kremer Racing to add to his third from the previous day. Once again, Pearson was in the thick of it, pushing Nielsen all the way until loose front bodywork, damaged from hitting a curb, forced a pitstop. He fought back through the field, unlapping himself, en route to fourth. Law and Chris Randall completed Sunday's podium trio. Pole sitter Mercer had retired on lap one with scavenge pump failure. Fifth was Adams, but this was small consolation as the Spice blew its engine only yards after crossing the line. Schuster kept it on the island to sixth, whilst James took his first Porsche race finish, much happier with the set up after some useful pointers from Siggi Brunn. Siggi's son, Philipp took the Class 3 spoils in Mike Jankowski's Spice. The EMKA-Aston Martin firing on all eight cylinders, Jim Graham took class 4 honours after Saturday's class winner, John Pearson (Ecosse-Cosworth C285), pulled off with the air filter on fire! John Edwards (Porsche 934R) collected a brace of Invitation class wins as the Harrier Historic Racing team endured a testing weekend including gearbox failure and a repeat of the Zolder misfire problems. Michael Millard (ProSport LM3000) would have taken Race 1 from Edwards but for a fuel miscalculation.
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	Race 1 1 GTP1 Gary Pearson Jaguar XJR11 27 Laps 41:04.783 158.649 kph 2 GTP1 David Mercer Spice SE90C 27 Laps 41:05.248 158.619 kph 3 GTP1 John Nielsen Porsche 962 CK6 27 Laps 42:05.893 154.811 kph 4 GTP1 Chris Randall Nissan NPT90 26 Laps 41:21.951 151.716 kph 5 GTP1 Nick Randall Porsche 962 26 Laps 41:32.263 151.089 kph 6 GTP2 Martyn Konig Porsche 956 26 Laps 42:34.089 147.431 kph 7 GTP3 Philipp Brunn Spice SE 88C 25 Laps 41:38.892 144.892 kph 8 GTP5 John Edwards Porsche 934R 23 Laps 42:44.767 129.877 kph 9 GTP4 John Pearson Ecosse C285 22 Laps 41:07.882 129.107 kph 10 GTP4 Jim Graham EMKA Aston Martin 22 Laps 42:12.438 125.816 kph 11 GTP5 Michael Millard Prosport LM 3000 21 Laps 34:24.105 147.347 kph   GTP1 John Nielsen Porsche 962 CK6 Fastest Lap 01:28.993 162.741 kph Race 2 1 GTP1 John Nielsen Porsche 962 CK6 27 Laps 41:13.958 158.061 kph 2 GTP1 Justin Law Jaguar XJR10 27 Laps 41:56.381 155.396 kph 3 GTP1 Chris Randall Nissan NPT90 27 Laps 42:15.466 154.226 kph 4 GTP1 Gary Pearson Jaguar XJR11 27 Laps 42:39.221 152.795 kph 5 GTP1 Nick Adams Spice SE 88C 26 Laps 41:18.581 151.923 kph 6 GTP1 Michael Schuster Argo JM19C 26 Laps 42:09.937 148.839 kph 7 GTP1 Nigel James Porsche 962 24 Laps 41:48.385 138.570 kph 8 GTP4 Jim Graham EMKA Aston Martin 24 Laps 42:06.477 137.578 kph 9 GTP5 John Edwards Porsche 934R 23 Laps 42:56.475 129.287 kph 10 GTP2 Martyn Konig Porsche 956 13 Laps 41:22.449 075.843 kph 11 GTP3 Philipp Brunn Spice SE 88C 10 Laps 16:27.353 146.683 kph GTP1 John Nielsen Porsche 962 CK6 Fastest Lap 01:28.855 162.994 kph Winners List     Race 1 Race 2           1st Overall Gary Pearson John Nielsen         Class 1 1st Gary Pearson John Nielsen   2nd David Mercer Justin Law         Class 2 1st Martyn Konig Martyn Konig   2nd             Class 3 1st Philipp Brunn Philipp Brunn   2nd Harvey Cooke Harvey Cooke         Class 4 1st John Pearson Jim Graham   2nd Jim Graham Nick Atkins         Class 5 1st John Edwards John Edwards   2nd Michael Millard Bill Tully