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GT: MP Motorsport BMW Wins Britcar 24
Class 2 BMW E46 GTR dominates second half of Britcar 24 Hours, takes shock victory at Silverstone...
Richard Abra, Mark Poole, Clint Bardwell and Michael Symons in the MP Motorsport Class 2 BMW E46 GTR took top honors in the Britcar 24. (Photo: Jamey Price)
By Stephen Kilbey
Richard Abra, Mark Poole, Clint Bardwell and Michael Symons in the MP Motorsport Class 2 BMW E46 GTR dominated the second half of the 2012 running of the Britcar 24 Hours.
This year’s GT and touring car enduro at Silverstone saw the Class 1 and 2 favorites all have multiple problems, handing the race win to the ultra-reliable BMW in Class 2.
The early stages of the race in Class 1 saw the pole-sitting Team LNT factory Ginetta G55 battle the Strata 21 Mosler for the lead. It wasn’t long though before the problems for the front-runners began.
The Mosler suffered driveshaft failure in hour 8 which left it trailing for the remainder of the race, while the LNT Ginetta suffered from multiple headlight issues throughout, which also cost them time. An oil pressure issue at 10 a.m. on Sunday that took them out of the running.
The Strata Mosler did have a chance to come back into contention for the win but the left-rear wheel nut ceased to the wheel in the dying hours, which cost them an hour. It took brute force with a hammer, chisel, drill and hacksaw to get the wheel nut off the car.
The eventual winner of Class 1 was MB Sport in their Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which lost its left-front wheel on track with just over four hours complete. Problems for the other Class 1 teams and front-running cars though, meant that they eventually climbed their way back up the order to take a second place overall in their first-ever 24 hour race.
Class 2 was decimated by the end of the race, with MP Motorsports taking the lead after the initial front runners, the Team Tiger and Topcats Racing Marcos, both had accidents in the first half.
By 1 a.m., MP Motorsport had both the overall lead and the Class 2 lead and didn’t look back. The nearest Class 2 rival was the problem stricken Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G50, which finished 109 laps behind the MP BMW.
Perfection Racing in their Aston Martin Vantage GT4 managed to win Class 3 after a closely fought battle with the MMC Motorport Seat Leon and BMW, Corum Sport Chevron and Cor Euser Lotus Evora.
Class 4 was by far the most competitive with multiple lead changes all the way through the race, but it was the Red Camel Seat FR TDI that managed to take the win. The class didn’t settle down until the Dutch squad took the lead from the quick and reliable Brunswick Auto BMW M3 E46 in the 20th hour.
The lead was held early by the Syncro Motorsport Honda Jazz, but they became one of two cars excluded from the race for excessive noise.
The race was full of camaraderie and heroics throughout, with many teams spending multiple hours in the garage repairing their cars in an attempt to finish.
Honorable mentions go to the Mac G Ultima which spent the majority of the race going in and out of the garage with multiple issues, including a trip to the Ultima factory to buy a new left rear hub structure in the early morning.
Rogue Motorsport’s mechanics should also be applauded after changing the entire rear-end and engine on their Toyota MR2 and replacing multiple propshafts, only to be forced to retire in the night after running out of spares.
The two major Class 4 factory backed entries also did very well. Mission Motorsport's 370Z, backed by Nissan, ran with four wounded soldiers at the wheel and finished 17th overall after colliding with a spinning Topcats Racing Marcos. It cost them two hours of repairs, during which they used spares from a 370Z road car to get the bodywork back in shape.
Toyota Team GB finished 3rd in Class 4 with their GT86, which made its competition debut. It finished without any major faults which compensated for its lack of speed.
Thirty four GT and touring cars took the start, and despite nearly every team suffering a mixture of problems and the heavens opening during the run to the flag on Sunday, only seven cars retired in Britain's flagship twice-around-the-clock race.
RESULTS: Britcar 24
PHOTOS: 2012 Britcar 24 at Silverstone
Richard Abra, Mark Poole, Clint Bardwell and Michael Symons in the MP Motorsport Class 2 BMW E46 GTR dominated the second half of the 2012 running of the Britcar 24 Hours.
This year’s GT and touring car enduro at Silverstone saw the Class 1 and 2 favorites all have multiple problems, handing the race win to the ultra-reliable BMW in Class 2.
The early stages of the race in Class 1 saw the pole-sitting Team LNT factory Ginetta G55 battle the Strata 21 Mosler for the lead. It wasn’t long though before the problems for the front-runners began.
The Mosler suffered driveshaft failure in hour 8 which left it trailing for the remainder of the race, while the LNT Ginetta suffered from multiple headlight issues throughout, which also cost them time. An oil pressure issue at 10 a.m. on Sunday that took them out of the running.
The Strata Mosler did have a chance to come back into contention for the win but the left-rear wheel nut ceased to the wheel in the dying hours, which cost them an hour. It took brute force with a hammer, chisel, drill and hacksaw to get the wheel nut off the car.
The eventual winner of Class 1 was MB Sport in their Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which lost its left-front wheel on track with just over four hours complete. Problems for the other Class 1 teams and front-running cars though, meant that they eventually climbed their way back up the order to take a second place overall in their first-ever 24 hour race.
Class 2 was decimated by the end of the race, with MP Motorsports taking the lead after the initial front runners, the Team Tiger and Topcats Racing Marcos, both had accidents in the first half.
By 1 a.m., MP Motorsport had both the overall lead and the Class 2 lead and didn’t look back. The nearest Class 2 rival was the problem stricken Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G50, which finished 109 laps behind the MP BMW.
Perfection Racing in their Aston Martin Vantage GT4 managed to win Class 3 after a closely fought battle with the MMC Motorport Seat Leon and BMW, Corum Sport Chevron and Cor Euser Lotus Evora.
Class 4 was by far the most competitive with multiple lead changes all the way through the race, but it was the Red Camel Seat FR TDI that managed to take the win. The class didn’t settle down until the Dutch squad took the lead from the quick and reliable Brunswick Auto BMW M3 E46 in the 20th hour.
The lead was held early by the Syncro Motorsport Honda Jazz, but they became one of two cars excluded from the race for excessive noise.
The race was full of camaraderie and heroics throughout, with many teams spending multiple hours in the garage repairing their cars in an attempt to finish.
Honorable mentions go to the Mac G Ultima which spent the majority of the race going in and out of the garage with multiple issues, including a trip to the Ultima factory to buy a new left rear hub structure in the early morning.
Rogue Motorsport’s mechanics should also be applauded after changing the entire rear-end and engine on their Toyota MR2 and replacing multiple propshafts, only to be forced to retire in the night after running out of spares.
The two major Class 4 factory backed entries also did very well. Mission Motorsport's 370Z, backed by Nissan, ran with four wounded soldiers at the wheel and finished 17th overall after colliding with a spinning Topcats Racing Marcos. It cost them two hours of repairs, during which they used spares from a 370Z road car to get the bodywork back in shape.
Toyota Team GB finished 3rd in Class 4 with their GT86, which made its competition debut. It finished without any major faults which compensated for its lack of speed.
Thirty four GT and touring cars took the start, and despite nearly every team suffering a mixture of problems and the heavens opening during the run to the flag on Sunday, only seven cars retired in Britain's flagship twice-around-the-clock race.
RESULTS: Britcar 24
PHOTOS: 2012 Britcar 24 at Silverstone
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