Hour seventeen of the 2012 Britcar 24 Hours saw several cars suffering major setbacks in their strategies, especially in the case of the Team LNT Ginetta G55, which suffered a major blow in the team’s campaign to increase the pressure on the top two. MP Motorsport, after 406 laps completed, is still in charge, and stands alone, being three laps ahead of its nearest rival, the MB Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which currently leads Class 1.
Class 2 still sees MP Motorsport lead overall, with the Ginetta G50 of Optimum Motorsport second in the class, but languishing down in 19th place. The Topcats Racing Marcos was still making its way round the track, even though the car was originally leading the class, before several incidents slowed its progress dramatically, including contact with the Mission Motorsport Nissan 370Z, which has been repaired, and is still currently racing in 21st place overall.
Intersport Racing were yet again able to move up to 8th place overall, and 2nd in Class 3, even though there was a vibration concern on the right front, with Mark Radcliffe taking the reigns of the BMW M3. Still ahead in Class 3 is the Perfection Racing Aston Martin in 5th place overall, and MMC Motorsport’s E46 CSL 3rd in Class, which also rounded out the top ten.
The lead for Class 4 changed once again, as Brunswick Automotive’s BMW M3 went ahead of the Red Camel.nl Seat Leon, with Team Toyota GB’s GT86 still keeping its third place in class, with all cars in the top ten.
The Rogue Motorsport MR2 was back in the pits, and an engine replacement is underway, with it now being the team’s only remaining car in the event, after the retirement of the #91 BMW M3.
The #6 Team LNT Ginetta, however, lost its rear right wheel, during a fast corner, with the car being under the control of Lawrence Tomlinson, who appears to have not had the best of luck since the early proceedings of the race. The car had a right rear driveshaft changed, as well as the team removing the bonnet to check around the air intake are for a possible further problem. This pretty much has ended their challenge for overall victory, but there are still the Class honours all to play for, as the car dropped down to 7th place overall.
The fastest lap now belongs to Neil Garner Motorsport’s Adam Sharpe, who set a time of 2.05.297 on lap 399, showing the increasing speeds that the drivers are able to achieve now that the darkness has lifted.
Class 4
2012 Britcar 24 Standings After 17 Hours:
Class One:
1 -MB Racing – West/Wall/Brown/Cripps
2 -Neil Garner Motorsport – White/Cintrano/Morcillo/Sharp
3 – Team LNT – Tomlinson/Kimber-Smith/Dean/Simpson
Class Two:
1 – MP Motorsport – Poole/Symons/Bardwell/Abra
2 – Optimum Motorsport – Osborne/Mowle/Fletcher/Rattenbury
3 – Topcats Racing – Huggins/Bankhurst/Black/Solivellas
Class Three :
1 – Perfection Racing – Spires/Jensen/Johanson/Holmgaard/Klosterman
2- Intersport Racing – Clarke/Radcliffe/Hayes/Gibson
3 –MMC Motorsport – Cox/Borness/Cox/Cox
Class Four :
1 – Brunswick Automotive – Griffiths/Green/Kirkpatrick/Forsbrey
2 – RedCamel.nl – Thijssen/De Heus/Breukers
3 – Team Toyota GB – Hodgetts/Death/Death
