News Item: Britcar 24 hrs Report Part 2 – Classes 1 and 2.
(Category: Race Reports 2010)
Posted by sa
Monday 11 October 2010 - 15:57:09
Even with its star-studded driver line-up, there was little pre-race expectation that the Aquilla would play a significant role in the event, let alone that it would absolutely slaughter the opposition in the opening hours. True, repairs to a broken rear cross-member put it an hour behind on Saturday evening, then a sticking throttle saw Kelvin Burt place the car in the gravel, but the point had been made, and in some style. The smirks after the non-debut at Castle Combe were replaced by open-mouthed awe. The MJC Ferrari 430, too, was a pre-race long shot; prepared in just eight days, by a crew with no 24-hour credentials, they went out and won it, where others went out and lost it. Their flexibility – double-stinting their faster drivers, where the opposition stuck rigidly to plan – was the master stroke, coupled with stunning reliability.
The smart money would have been on a Mosler victory, but it was not to be. The fastest of the marque, the Strata21 car, suffered gearbox maladies from the very opening laps, and it was a testament to the skill of the drivers, particularly professionals Lockie and Masarati, that it could be hauled back up to sixth place by the end of the race. Best-placed was the Runnymede/Topcats machine, fourth overall, which made a conservative start, and a torrid mid-period when Ben Clucas tried a bit too hard in atrocious conditions. Once again, the McInerney’s Eclipse car hit trouble, after trouble, after trouble, the gearbox being the first of these hitches, and 19th overall was the best that could be salvaged. The new Rollcentre GT Cup-spec version looked set to succeed after a fraught lead-up, and, indeed, it was the only Mosler to actually lead the race, after the Aquilla hit the first of its issues, but a return of the electronic glitches that had marred testing and qualifying saw the car retired at one-third distance.
To finish 49th may not seem worthy of celebration, but to the GTF TVR team, it may has well have been the overall win; they had numerous issues along the way – ecu, broken rose joint, wipers, plus a precautionary gearbox change - and they were 196 laps adrift at the flag, but there was nothing that daunted the courageous team.
Class 2 was thin on the ground, and there was little doubt that the JetAlliance Porsche 997 would be the star turn here. The race with the MJC Ferrari has now been well-documented, and they were stymied not only by that pit exit red-light incident, but also by sticking to their plan by keeping Eckert’s stint on the Sunday lunchtime menu. That was when Gaw clawed most time back, and probably where the race was lost.
The pretty Chevron GR8 lasted just minutes into the race – a thump into the wall during qualifying came back to haunt Paul O’Neill three laps in, when the suspension collapsed, and the car was retired. The Chesterton Marcos was well-placed in the early stages, but a mystery rear-end knock thwarted their progress, as did Graeme Bryant’s sensible parking of the car during atrocious night-time conditions. They finished 44th, but the first-string Topcats 7-litre Mantis fared better , though, finishing 16th overall, and second in class, after enduring differential problems attributed to a circlip.
STEVE WOOD
This news item is from Britcar
( http://www.britcar24hr.co.uk/cms/news.php?extend.978 )
(Category: Race Reports 2010)
Posted by sa
Monday 11 October 2010 - 15:57:09
Even with its star-studded driver line-up, there was little pre-race expectation that the Aquilla would play a significant role in the event, let alone that it would absolutely slaughter the opposition in the opening hours. True, repairs to a broken rear cross-member put it an hour behind on Saturday evening, then a sticking throttle saw Kelvin Burt place the car in the gravel, but the point had been made, and in some style. The smirks after the non-debut at Castle Combe were replaced by open-mouthed awe. The MJC Ferrari 430, too, was a pre-race long shot; prepared in just eight days, by a crew with no 24-hour credentials, they went out and won it, where others went out and lost it. Their flexibility – double-stinting their faster drivers, where the opposition stuck rigidly to plan – was the master stroke, coupled with stunning reliability.
The smart money would have been on a Mosler victory, but it was not to be. The fastest of the marque, the Strata21 car, suffered gearbox maladies from the very opening laps, and it was a testament to the skill of the drivers, particularly professionals Lockie and Masarati, that it could be hauled back up to sixth place by the end of the race. Best-placed was the Runnymede/Topcats machine, fourth overall, which made a conservative start, and a torrid mid-period when Ben Clucas tried a bit too hard in atrocious conditions. Once again, the McInerney’s Eclipse car hit trouble, after trouble, after trouble, the gearbox being the first of these hitches, and 19th overall was the best that could be salvaged. The new Rollcentre GT Cup-spec version looked set to succeed after a fraught lead-up, and, indeed, it was the only Mosler to actually lead the race, after the Aquilla hit the first of its issues, but a return of the electronic glitches that had marred testing and qualifying saw the car retired at one-third distance.
To finish 49th may not seem worthy of celebration, but to the GTF TVR team, it may has well have been the overall win; they had numerous issues along the way – ecu, broken rose joint, wipers, plus a precautionary gearbox change - and they were 196 laps adrift at the flag, but there was nothing that daunted the courageous team.
Class 2 was thin on the ground, and there was little doubt that the JetAlliance Porsche 997 would be the star turn here. The race with the MJC Ferrari has now been well-documented, and they were stymied not only by that pit exit red-light incident, but also by sticking to their plan by keeping Eckert’s stint on the Sunday lunchtime menu. That was when Gaw clawed most time back, and probably where the race was lost.
The pretty Chevron GR8 lasted just minutes into the race – a thump into the wall during qualifying came back to haunt Paul O’Neill three laps in, when the suspension collapsed, and the car was retired. The Chesterton Marcos was well-placed in the early stages, but a mystery rear-end knock thwarted their progress, as did Graeme Bryant’s sensible parking of the car during atrocious night-time conditions. They finished 44th, but the first-string Topcats 7-litre Mantis fared better , though, finishing 16th overall, and second in class, after enduring differential problems attributed to a circlip.
STEVE WOOD
This news item is from Britcar
( http://www.britcar24hr.co.uk/cms/news.php?extend.978 )