More problems for Team LNT’s Ginetta G55 was the main story of the eighteenth hour of the race.
With Ginetta chairman Lawrence Tomlinson in the car the orange machine crawled past the pits before picking up pace once more. However, just two laps later Tomlinson was in the pits reporting that the car was cutting out around slow right handers, which would explain the car travelling slowly away from Luffield.
The car returned to the track, though it was admitted it was more in hope than expectation.
The problem eliminated the Ginetta from the group of Class One cars chasing down the overall leaders MP Motorsport, who now hold only a lap lead over both the MB Racing Aston Martin and the Neil Garner Motorsport Mosler, with just 1:22 between the two Class One entrants.
Behind the lead trio lies a massive gulf of 29 laps to Class Three leaders Perfection Racing. Intersport hold second Class Three, though seven laps behind the Danish team’s GT4 Vantage in the ‘fight’ for the class lead.
Putting all the class leaders in the top five Red Camel/Jordans.nl lead Class Four in their diesel SEAT three laps to the good over the Brunswick Automotive BMW. Team Toyota GB still hold third in class and tenth overall with The Rollcentre GT86 fourth in class, but with nine circuits between the pair of Toyotas.
2012 Britcar 24 Hours Standings After 18 Hours
Class One:
1 – MB Racing – West/Wall/Brown/Cripps
2 – Neil Garner Motorsport – White/Cintrano/Morcillo/Sharpe
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 – Clarke/Gibson/Hayes/Radcliffe
3 – MMC Motorsport – Spencer/Cassar/Lewis/Pettit
Class Four
1 – Red Camel.nl – Breukers/Thijssen/de Heus
2 – Brunswick Automotive – Griffiths/Green/Kirkpatrick/Forsbrey
3 – Team Toyota GB – Hodgetts/Hodgetts/Primrose/Meaden