Strata 21 Mosler (Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography)
Hour two was not as kind to the Aquila CR1 team – first driver Bob Berridge had to serve the 30 second penalty handed-out at the end of the hour one – and then the impressive opening pace began to drop.
The No. 4 Mosler led for much of the second hour, and was able to set consistent lap times whilst those of the Aquila were fluctuating by 20 seconds from one lap to the next at some points.
Inconsistent lap times had been a feature of the opening hour for the Aquila but for Gareth Evans, who took command for the second stint, did a lap of 2:34.239 at one point, over thirty seconds slower than the fastest lap set on Lap 6.
However, the Nigel Mustill-run team may be able to take some consolation from the fact that they are still running third, and still on the same lap as the leaders. Their second hour was nowhere near as disastrous as it was for some teams.
The No. 5 ARC Bratislava Porsche 997 was one such team. When the No. 4 Mosler made its pit stop driver ARC Sean Edwards inherited the overall lead and, of course, the lead of Class Two. The team pitted soon afterwards, but then the race quickly began to go downhill.
The team had to come back into the pits after completing only a few more laps after they were warned about the Porsche exceeding the noise limits. As the second hour ended, the team were still working on the car, and their name was slipping down the standings.
The No.1 MJC Ltd Ferrari 430 also had a challenging hour. The team were given a 30-second Stop/Go penalty for overtaking under yellow flags, but were then given a second penalty – this time 16 seconds – for speeding in the pit lane while serving the first.
The No. 31 Nissan of the RJN Motorsport team was the last of the leading cars to make a stop, making their opening fuel last until 1 hour and 45 minutes into the race. The car remained in the pits for a long time as mechanics tried to repair an oil leak, but was still running in eighth and third in class 2 by the end of the second hour.
Hour two also saw the first retirements of the race. The No.58 car, the GT Classics Porsche, was the first with an engine problem, and was promptly followed by the No. 51 Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G50.
2011 Britcar 24 Hours Class Leaders after hour two:
Class One:
1 – No.4 Mosler – White/Lockie/Cintrano/Morcillo
2 – No.2 Ferrari – McInerney/McInerney/Keen
3 – No.6 Acquila – Mustill/Berridge/Evans/Martin
Class Two:
1 – No.30 Ginetta – Tomlinson/Short/Turkington/Simpson/Nicoll
2 – No.27 Marcos- Upton/Huggins/Fletcher/Orton
3 – No.31 Nissan – Buncombe/Ward/Mardenborough/Heitkotter
Class Three:
1 – No.59 Aston Martin – Le Blanc/Van Lanschot/De Zille/Nimkoff
2 – No.61 Ginetta – Denis/Jones/Spencer/Thorpe
3 – No.66 Porsche – Winter/Mundy/Morris/Speed/Raven
Class Four:
1 – No.81 Seat – May/Osborne/Parr
2 – No.88 Honda – Smail/Meins/Lillingston-Price/Harding
3 – No.79 Honda – Allan/James/Ritchie/Ludlow
Follow live coverage from The Checkered Flag here: http://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2011/10/2011-britcar-24-hours-live-coverage/
