PROGRESSIVE PORSCHE

The 2012 Porsche Championship gets underway at Oulton Park on Saturday and the big news over the winter is that the championship has secured a title sponsor in the form of the Logson Group. Logson MD, Ian Loggie, did a couple of guest drives in the Boxster class in 2011 and was so impressed with the potential of the championship that he decide to support it both via his company and by entering a Boxster for the full season. Good luck Ian!

With the absence of the 2011 Champion Dave Clark, and with 30 drivers registered, this year’s Championship promises to be the most hotly contested yet. In the Boxster class Richard Styrin looks like the driver to beat but he will face stiff opposition from throughout the field.

Richard Sykes has a brand new 987 model Boxster and if his results during guest appearances last year are anything to go by expect the sparks to fly. Newcomer Tom Andrew put in some impressive lap times at the open test session at Oulton Park two weeks back in the ex-Steve Boyles car, as did veteran Gerry Taylor, who heads up the Taylors Foundry 'Boxster Boys' team.

Moving up to the Boxsters from the 924 class is Yorkshireman Adam Croft, who will campaign the ex-Dave Clark Boxster. Adam has some big shoes to fill but his form last season suggests he is more than capable of making a challenge. Last year’s 924 Champion Steve Brown, along with Steve Potts, are the first two drivers to build cars to meet the new for 2012 Production Boxster class. The productions are an unknown quantity and it will be interesting to see how they compare against the two established classes.

The venerable 924's are out in force and are still major players in the Championship, but which drivers are going to fill the shoes of messrs Croft, Brown and Piesinger? With the latter being transferred back to Austria, the Championship is very much wide open. Maybe 2012 will see the series produce it’s first female champ in the form of Rebecca Jackson, who made significant progress towards the end of 2011. However, Alastair Kirkham and Sean Siddall will surely be the leading protagonists in the 924 class and then there are the unknown quantities of newcomers Karl Rossin and Richard Jones.

All in all, and with every round covered by Motors TV, the 2012 Logson Group Porsche Championship should be one to savour.

For more information visit the Championship’s own website http://www.porscheracingdrivers.co.uk/