Paragon Porsche Group C GTP at Spa 14/10/2007

Sumpter takes another Group C double 

The Sussex-based Paragon Porsche racing team scored another pair of commanding wins during the final race meeting of the season for Group C sports cars at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium (13/14 October).

Mark Sumpter was the class of the field as he dominated both races in the Paragon Porsche 962C, bringing his tally for the season to seven wins from 12 races.  The Spa circuit is the venue for the Belgian Grand Prix and is widely regarded as the best, and most challenging, track in the world. 

"It's probably the best track we race these cars at," confirmed Sumpter. "It's definitely exciting," he said of the track where top speeds approach 200mph. Sumpter's Porsche was taking the daunting Eau Rouge section flat out in top gear, with only a slight lift of the throttle.  

The grid for the Group C races was the same as used for the Formula 1 race, which meant the field then headed straight into the tight hairpin corner at La Source. Sumpter started the opening race from pole position, but the fact that his Porsche is turbocharged meant that it struggled getting the power down out of the hairpin.  

"The other three leading cars were not turbo powered, so they swamped me out of the hairpin," he explained. However, once into its stride, the Sumpter Porsche swept ahead to win by a commanding margin. "My car is so good round the fast corners. Once I got past them it was head down for a couple of laps to get a gap," he said. "I really enjoyed racing against Justin Law and Brian DeVries; they're really good guys to race with."  

The start of the second race followed a similar pattern, but this time with a race distance of 45 minutes plus one lap, fuel consumption was a major concern as the Porsche ideally needs refuelling after 45 minutes and Sumpter was forced to run at a cautious pace over the second half of the race. "I had to ease it back, turn the turbo boost down and use less revs," said Sumpter after completing a perfect weekend.