Redditch-based motorsport team, DAM Racing showed new-found pace at Silverstone this weekend (4th September) after completing considerable development work on their Porsche 944 race car. The team is a joint venture between motorsport-specialist graphic design agency DAM Creative, and their long-time client, Pro-9, an independent Porsche Specialist, both companies based on the Weights Lane Business Park in Redditch.
DAM Creative's Studio Manager, David Stokes (Feckenham) is sharing the driving with Pro-9's Brett Evans (Winyates) in the Classic Sports Car Club's Future Classics series. The series features two-driver, 40-minute endurance races for sports cars from the 70s and 80s. The broad mix of cars and budgets meant that the team had struggled for pace earlier in the year, but Pro-9 have answered this with a flurry of development work including a new engine and gearbox combination.
With both drivers competing at Silverstone for the first time, the morning’s qualifying session was used to learn the circuit and both drivers put in respectable lap times to put them 26th on a bumper grid of 37 cars. However, a disappointing technical infringement meant that the car was forced to start the race from the very back of the grid, giving the pair a real challenge for the race.
Brett started the race and immediately showed the car’s new pace, working his way past four cars in the first lap, and charging hard for the opening 20 minutes before the half-time pit stop and driver change. The team’s slickest driver change to date saw David back out on track with little over a minute lost and he settled into a fast, consistent pace, scything through backmarkers and challenging hard for track position. When the chequered flag was waved after 40 minutes, the team were up to 20th position, a full 16 places gained from the start.
David commented after the Silverstone round, "The car has been completely transformed since I last drove it at Anglesey. We had the handling right then, but now we have the pace to match, and were flying past competitors we’d previously struggled to catch. The development work that Pro-9 have done has had a dramatic, and very positive effect. We’d said before the event that we’d be happy with a top 20 finish against such a packed and experienced field - to achieve that from the back of the grid has been fantastic. We’ve both had a lot of fun out on track today.”
The next round of the Future Classics series will be at the famous Donington Park circuit in Derbyshire. You can keep up with the team’s progress on their racing blog and gallery at www.damracing.co.uk
