Eclipse race towards the sunrise (Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography)
Amidst the dawn, the Eclipse Motorsport-prepared Ferrari 430 continues to lead the Britcar 24 Hour race at Silverstone.
Piloted by Sean McInerney, the entry maintained its solid run at the front, embellishing its three lap gap to the Topcats Racing Mosler in second place.
Indeed, where the Topcats racers were initially facing a potential battle with the MJC Ferrari 430, suddenly a large gap opened up.
On lap 340, the 2010 winners drew into the pits with a cracked manifold – a problem that would force their retirement. By the end of the fifteenth hour, Gamski had fallen to ninth spot on the timing screens.
It brought Nigel Mustill's Aquila CR1 into the top three. The Chamberlain Synergy operation started the hour in 5th, overtaking Nicholas Mee Racing Aston Martin in the process.
With MJC's misfortune, NMR returned to 4th overall, while leading Class Three – a clear lap ahead of the front running Class Two machine, Topcats Racing Marcos Mantis GT3.
The Marcos International run Lotus Evora assumed 6th ahead of the Intersport BMW M3, with Paul Winter's Dorset Sports Cars Porsche looking on in 8th, albeit five laps adrift.
Brunswick Automotive's BMW M3 leads the Class 4 field, while holding 10th overall – a solid performance by the all-British squad, as they maintain an eight-lap lead over their nearest class rivals, the Red Camel's SEAT Leon.
The day ended prematurely for Paul White's Strata 21 machine. After a difficult Saturday, the Mosler GT3 retired with an overheating engine.
2011 Britcar 24 Hours class leaders after hour fifteen
Class One:
1 – No.2 Ferrari – McInerney/McInerney/Keen
2 – No.3 Mosler – Beaumont/Fletcher/Draper/Hetherington
3 – No.6 Aquila – Mustill/Berridge/Evans/Martin
Class Two:
1 – No.27 Marcos – Upton/Huggins/Fletcher/Orton
2 – No.5 Porsche – Konopka/O'Donnell/Myszkowski/Lewandowski/Edwards
Class Three:
1 – No.49 Aston Martin – Le Blanc/Van Lanschot/De Zille/Nimkoff
2 – No.57 Lotus – Euser/Prewitt/Brody/Freebird/McKinnon
3 – No.68 BMW – Clarke/Gibson/Radcliffe/Hayes
Class Four:
1 – No.89 BMW – Griffiths/Green/Forsbrey/Kirkpatrick
2 – N0.84 Seat – Breukers/Thijssen/Jensiew/Han
3 – No.88 Honda – Smail/Meins/Lillingston-Price/Harding
