Their lead extended by another penalty to the MJC Limited Ferrari, the Britcar regulars being penalised another lap – this one for running the red light at the end of the pitlane the Jet Alliance squad seem to have strengthened their already tight grip on the Britcar 24 Hours.
The penalty left the Austrian squad with a three lap advantage advantage in the lead of top four now spread out across 15 laps. However, behind the top four is a group of as many as eight cars covered by only a handful of laps spanning the bottom half of the top ten and those fight to get in the top ten.
Start of this fight in the hour was Piers Masarati. The man behind the familiar Chad Racing was “frisky” before he climbed into the car around 7am, and it showed. He dragged the Strata 21 Mosler up into the top ten, cutting through the GT4 cars that have found their way up the order purely by consistent running. Masarati peaked in sixth before pitting, and now suffering at the hands of the fight they had won previously the car tumbled back to tenth.
Another of the Class 1 cars fighting their way back is the no.1 Topcat Racing Mosler. They became the first team in hours to break into the established top four of Jet Alliance, MJC, Neil Garner Motorsports and Jota Sport, by moving into fourth between the pair of GT4 leaders. Welch Motorsport made their first forays into the class top three with the no.44 car of Australians Malcolm and Brett Niall alongside Brits Clint Harvey and Daniel Welch. The previous incumbents of third place – Tischner Racing – fell to tenth place overall and fifth in class.
In an increasingly familiar story the Team LNT Ginetta continues its march of reliability in ninth place overall, pulling even further ahead in the production standings no 13 laps ahead of the Mardi Gras Motorsport Honda with the no.86 Mazda MX5 keeping their third place for another hour.
The only major incident in the hour was the no.92 Renault Clio, run by an all-French squad. The car (affectionately known at “the van” in the media centre as it's right rear window has been replaced by a body panel incorporating the fuel filler) went off at Stowe and was recovered to the pits on a flatbed lorry. Damage to the front of the car was clear and heavy and the front wheels pointing in opposite directions.
Class 1
1 No.8 MJC Limited – Ferrari 430 GTC
2 No.1 Topcat Racing – Mosler MT900R GT2
3 No.4 Strata 21 – Mosler MT900R GT2
Class 2
1 No.22 Jet Alliance – Porsche 997
2 No.21 Topcat Racing – Marcos Mantis GT3
3 No.19 Chesterton Commercial Holdings – Marcos Mantis GT3
Class 3
1 No.42 Neil Garner Racing – Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
2 No.38 AMR Jota Sport – Aston Martin N24 GT4
3 No.44 Welch Motorsport – Seat Leon Supercopa
Class 4
1 No.83 Team LNT – Ginetta G40
2 No.91 Mardi Gras Motorsport – Honda Integra
3 No.86 Mazda Motors UK – Mazda MX5
