2011 Britcar 24 Hours (Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography)
The Nigel Mustill run Aquila CR1 retook the lead of the Britcar 24 Hours during the event's fifth hour.
Having fallen as low as fifth place earlier in the evening, the CR1 kept itself in contention with a mixture of clever and intuitive driving.
The Aquila moved up to second, before assuming the lead when the Eclipse Motorsport Ferrari 430 pitted on lap 102.
The McInerney run machine would suffer a major blow on its second lap out of the pits. Weaving its way through the Arena section, the Ferrari was slammed in the rear, necessitating a further – and longer – stop.
Come the end of the 300th minute, McInerney's entry had dropped to 3rd, some five laps adrift of the leading Aquila.
Topcats Racing‘s leading entry – the Mosler GT2 runner – split the Aquila / Ferrari duo, albeit they too found themselves four laps shy of the lead.
It was two Topcats entries in the top four. Indeed the No.27 Marcos Mantis GT3 led the Class Two order in 4th overall – although their class lead is safe for now, with their closest rival (Rollcentre Racing Ginetta G55) some 43 laps off their pace.
Marcos Racing International‘s Lotus Evora assumed the lead in the Class Three order from the Aston Martin of Nicholas Mee Racing on lap 112.
They would be separated by 40 seconds as the clock ticked five hours; although a gap of two laps kept Doset Sports Car’s Porsche 996 in 7th place.
Intersport‘s BMW and Motionsport's Lotus Elise swapped places during the hour, with the BMW emerging ahead in 8th place, while the recovering MJC Ferrari 430 GT2 (Class 1) rounded out the top ten,
The Richard Chamberlain prepared Lotus Elise GT4 heads the Class 4 ladder in 11th place overall, ten laps shy of the leader.
Several stop/go penalties were issued – three for pitlane infringements (number 92 Smarts4You, number 84 Red Camel Lotus and the Dave Benett Porsche 996), while the number 61 Scuderia G50 was slammed for overtaking under yellow.
The hour was split by two safety car periods, due to a car beached in off of Maggots at the turn of the hour.
2011 Britcar 24 Hours class leaders after hour five
Class One:
1 – No.6 Aquila – Mustill/Berridge/Evans/Martin
2 – No.3 Mosler – Beaumont/Fletcher/Draper/Hetherington
3 – No.2 Eclipse – McInerney/McInerney/Keen
Class Two
1 – No.27 Marcos – Upton/Huggins/Fletcher/Orton
2 – No.5 Porsche – Konopka/O’Donnell/Myszkowski/Lewandowski/Edwards
3 – No.30 Ginetta – Tomlinson/Short/Turkington/Simpson/Nicoll-Jones
Class Three
1 – No.49 Aston Martin – Le Blanc/van Lanschot/De Zille/Nimkoff
2 – No.46 Lotus – Storey/Mitson/Gower/Rowland
3 – No.57 Lotus – Euser/Prewitt/Briody/Freebird/McKinnon
Class Four
1 – No.83 Lotus – Chamberlain/Randeria/Fillingham/Webb
2 – No.88 Honda – Smail/Meins/Lillingston-Price/Harding
3 – No.89 BMW – Griffiths/Green/Forsbrey/Kirkpatrick
