Parkins and Dorrington share top honours at Imola

Defending champion Ryan Parkins maintained a small gap at the top of the leaderboard in the Porsche Club Great Britain Sim Racing Championship. On the virtual version of the notoriously tricky Imola racetrack, the defending champion snatched the pole position by only nine hundredths of a second, from championship challenger Matthew Dorrington. Fans were in for a spectacular evening of motorsport as an impressive twenty nine Porsche Club GB members lined up on the grid.

With the first race looking like a Parkins versus Dorrington battle on the front row, viewers were surprised when Dorrington was swamped off the line as Parkins shot ahead from the chasing pack. Paul Riga and Gary Tall were the big winners into turn one, with a second and third place respectively. It was Matthew Dorrington who had to put on an impressive recovery drive to eventually overtake Paul Riga and Gary Tall to reclaim his second position. It looked like a strong points position for Johnny Elia, before he lost control of his 911 Cup Car and ultimately lost his fifth position, almost collecting Patrick Charlton on the way, who did very well to avoid the incident. There was no luck for PorscheSport drivers, Carl Sharkey and Luke Holroyd who both had separate errors resulting in them finishing way down the order. It was Ryan Parkins who claimed Round 5 victory, with Matthew Dorrington in second, Paul Riga in third and Mark Phillips and Patrick Charlton rounding off the top five.

Round 6 had the highly anticipated reverse grid, which often provides thrills and spills across the field. Mark Searle, Andy Shepard and Jamie Ward had all the work to do on the front row with a twenty eight strong grid behind. All of the field managed to tackle the first sector without disaster, with only Ryan Penny making a mistake, but thankfully not making contact with any other drivers as his car bounced across the racing line. Heavy contact between Danny Jones and Paul Stout created a domino effect of incidents, with many of the mid pack taking to the grass to avoid further damage. Upfront it was Angus Archer who made the most of the first lap, followed closely by Colin Wynn and Luke Holroyd. Matthew Dorrington and Carl Sharkey were also making impressive progress through the field and were already up to fifth and sixth position by lap two. Ryan Parkins failed to navigate the early traffic as swiftly as his championship rivals, but as the race progressed he skilfully climbed up to second place. Matthew Dorrington, whose victory kept the points at the top of championship close, ensured his early aggression through the field paid off. PorscheSport driver Carl Sharkey made up for his round five error with a podium finish and his team mate Luke Holroyd also rectified his early mistakes with a seventh place finish. More strong performances from Johnny Elia, Paul Riga and Mark Phillips placed them in the top six as they put on an impressive show for the fans.

After the third race weekend, Ryan Parkins (128 Points) leads the overall classification with a mere 10-point advantage over Matthew Dorrington (118 Points). Paul Riga (77 points) and Johnny Elia (79 points) have gained a lot of ground thanks to their impressive drives.

Rounds seven and eight of the Porsche Club Great Britain Sim Racing Championship will be contested on 28th October at the virtual version of the Nürburgring’s Grand-Prix-Strecke (BES/WEC). The Nürburgring’s GP-Strecke (Grand Prix Track) was constructed on the former site of the pit complex of the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife and Südschleife in 1982-83. Originally a 12 turn, 4.556km (2.832 mile) circuit, the GP-Strecke was revamped in 2002 with the replacement of the Castrol Chicane by the Haug-Hook right hander and subsequent omega-shaped Mercedes Arena turn, bringing the circuit to its current 16 turn, 5.148km (3.199 mile) specification.

Giles Gardner: “I had a little bit of an off and it was just about finding my rhythm in the races. Once I found my rhythm half the race was gone but I've made a lot of progress and able to finish on the lead lap for both races. I've found some consistent pace with some coaching this week and the track walks really help my progression. The 911 cup car is not easy to get to grips with, it's all about getting to the point where you can do a consistent lap and then just reduce the amount of mistakes. You have to find a qualifying pace and then a race pace, I did twenty laps and not making mistakes and finding my rhythm gained me positions. We have individuals in this championship who are willing give up their own time to share their knowledge and experience and I've just had a fantastic time already. I'll keep picking peoples brains and finding bits of time.”

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Season Standings

1. Ryan Parkins 128

2. Matthew Dorrington 118

3. Gianluca Elia 79

4. Paul Riga 77

5. Dan Bathie 63