CALM All Porsche Trophy - Anglesey International Circuit
Date: 12th to 14th May 2023
Event Organiser: 750 Motor Club
Format: Friday test day, then qualifying and a 15-minute sprint race on Saturday, and a second 15-minute sprint race and a 40-minute race with a compulsory pit stop on Sunday
Conditions: Sunny and dry on Saturday, turning misty and damp on Sunday
Best Lap Time: 1min54.98secs (Race 2)
Race Report
Summary: CALM All Porsche Trophy - Round 2, Anglesey International Circuit (13th & 14th May 2023)
Round 2 of the 2023 CALM All Porsche Trophy took VANHAUEN RACING to the Anglesey Circuit on the west coast of Wales for a three-race double-header on the International layout, and it was the 903's first race in the UK, as well as Kenn van Hauen's first ever race. It was a first for the series too. Among a grid of 29 cars, the official report welcomed "an impressive 1973 LHD slope-front" as the first 911 ever to race in the CALM All Porsche Trophy. Sabine came along for the long weekend to offer moral support, and Phil Brough was on hand throughout.
The weekend began with a test day on the Friday, the car arriving early in the morning, before qualifying on a sunny and dry Saturday. With no racing experience to draw on, the aim was simply to learn and to bring the car home in one piece.
Race 1, a 15-minute sprint on the Saturday, was the first race of Kenn van Hauen's career, and it was an eventful one. Contact with Sam Callahan's Boxster left an exchange of paint on the 903's rear wing and its driver somewhat shaken. The car finished 27th with a best lap of 1min55.43secs and runner-up in the Invitation Class behind Richard Harman's 944 Turbo, which had taken second place overall.
The contact had done more than exchange paint. Preparing the car that evening for Sunday, Phil Brough found fluid around the base of the front right damper and a tell-tale shiny area on the lower arm. The damper was leaking and would no longer do its job properly. It was reassessed the following morning and judged safe for the second sprint race.
Confidence grew from there. Sunday's second 15-minute sprint, in which all 29 cars finished, produced the 903's best lap of the weekend, 1min54.98secs, and another runner-up place in the Invitation Class behind Harman. With the weather turning misty and damp and a 40-minute pit stop race still to run, a damaged damper was not a risk worth taking, and the car was withdrawn.
The 903 runs a custom suspension system built by Truechoice Motorsports in Ohio, based on Koni 3011 Series steel-bodied, externally double-adjustable, high-pressure gas coil-over dampers, which allow rebound and bump damping to be set independently. Repairing one is specialist work: Phil turned to Ian Gardiner of I.G. Racing, one of only two Koni service specialists in the country, whose book was already running into July. Even so, the dampers were reconditioned and back on the car in time for the next scheduled race outing.
The results were modest on paper, but the 903 drew a great deal of attention. Kenn van Hauen was interviewed trackside for the live broadcast, which focused on the car's UK racing debut, and the car went on to feature in Autosport's National Novelties column on 18th May. Autosport credited Phil Brough, a 750 Motor Club alumnus, and EPS Motorsport for turning the car into "a usable and distinctive race car".
Above all, by the end of the weekend Kenn knew he had found a new passion. It was quite a debut. The next round takes the 903 to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit on 8th July.
Read the full official report here.
Read the Autosport article here.
Photo Gallery: Anglesey 2023
Video Highlights
The clips are the live broadcast coverage of the 903's UK debut, the Race 1 incident, and the fastest lap of the weekend. The lap time shown on the onboard footage does not match the official 1min54.98secs, as the start and finish line had been set incorrectly in the VBOX.