Hour four of the 2012 Britcar 24 Hours at Silverstone was fast heading towards the beginning of night racing for all four classes, as Neil Garner Motorsport and its Mosler still being the only car on the lead lap, as Team LNT continued their steady progress around the ‘Home of British Motorsport’ in second place.
But MB Racing and their Aston Martin would suffer further issues regarding the problems suffered in the last hour, with the undertray and front splitter fouling the new tyre on the front of the vehicle. This meant that the car would slip further down the field overall.
Class 2 leaders at the beginning of the hour, Team Tiger, suffered a major drama, as the Marcos went backwards into Maggots, hitting the Armco barrier, putting them out of the top three. Topcats Racing took over as Class leaders, as Team Tiger got going again, and attempted to get back to the paddock under its own power, but cut out. The car was recovered to the paddock as a result, and had substantial damage to the right front and rear. This was a result of the Roque Motorsport MR2 going off at Copse, and making slight contact with the Marcos.
Initial Class 3 leaders, Intersport Racing, managed to get their M3 back to racing after the diff was replaced on the vehicle. The Strata 21 Porsche 993 #59 had a miscommunication, as the car promptly ran out of fuel, and as the car was about to leave the pit lane, the left front door fell off, but it was refitted, and the car exited pitlane. The Corum Sport Chevron still was in the lead of the class, as night-time fell, and the cars switched on their lights for night-time racing.
Class 4 saw Piranha/Fauldsport once again make an unscheduled stop, with its bonnet raised, but shortly went back out on track. The class sees Brunswick’s BMW M3 still up front.
2012 Britcar 24 Standings After 4 Hours:
Class One:
1 – Neil Garner Motorsport – White/Cintrano/Morcillo/Sharp
2– Team LNT – Tomlinson/Kimber-Smith/Dean/Simpson
3 – MB Racing – West/Wall/Brown/Cripps
Class Two:
1 – Topcats Racing – Huggins/Bankhurst/Black/Solivellas
2 – MP Motorsport – Poole/Symons/Bardwell/Abra
3 – Optimum Motorsport – Osborne/Mowle/Fletcher/Rattenbury
Class Three
1 – Corum Sport – Abra/Poole/Bardwell/Symons
2- Perfection Racing – Spires/Jensen/Johanson/Holmgaard/Klosterman
3 – Povey Motorsport – Povey/Whale/Whale/Nordstrom/Harding
Class Four
1 – Brunswick Automotive – Griffiths/Green/Kirkpatrick/Forsbrey
2 – Team Toyota GB – Hodgetts/Death/Death
3 – Red Camel – Thijssen/De Heus/Breukers