Britcar 24 Hours - Hours 7-9
Duller Gallops Away The Safety Car is scrambled – it’s pitch black out there so no immediate clues as to the reason other than there are flashing lights on the exit of Copse. Debris on the track Under the safety car Rollcentre opts to pit for a driver change and new rubber, the Rollcentre Mosler now 4 laps down on the Z4M – “We’re running out of brakes,” revealed Martin Short, before going on to say that he got “Whacked by the Boche (the Duller Z4M) at Priory but there was no damage.” The Rollcentre team is taking the opportunity to do a pad change under the Safety Car. They’ll have to get a hurry up though as the Safety Car is recalled after just three laps. The GTS Motorsport car meanwhile retakes second position and the Eclipse Mosler has closed right back up with the now fourth position Paragon Porsche, with the 911virgin Porsche also in touch. The Rollcentre car meanwhile loses just a single lap to the pad change and rejoins, as the last of the train is released by the safety car. The Chad Porsche meanwhile has popped back into the top 20, up to fifth in class and 19th overall. Lest we forget the #1 Duller BMW is fairly romping away in the lead, 4 laps ahead of the GTS car and with Johannes Stuck currently lapping under 2 minutes, whilst the best of the rest (Eclipse at present) is in the 2:01s: another very good display by Duller. The Rollcentre car is in trouble, Stuart Hall brings the car into the pits and its pushed into the garage, “alternator” is the immediate diagnosis, not a quick fix. The Eclipse Mosler is about to inherit third place. The second placed GTS Motorsport BMW pits, Joe Macari out, Rob Wilson in and with plenty now in hand over the Eclipse car. The Rollcentre car meanwhile is still in the garage and now falling into the clutches of the Paragon and 911virgin cars battling now over 4th position, with the recovering Duller M3 catching that pair too. Trouble too for the #10 Chad Mosler as it sits out on track. Michael Vergers was overtaking a group of cars, Richard Hammond having apparently gone wide as a pair of other cars approached, then spearing back across the track and T-boning the Chad Mosler: both cars damaged but both drivers reportedly OK. Both return to the pits on flatbeds – the BMW with damage to the offside corner back as far as the door and the Mosler with front right damage to the suspension. Richard Hammond whinces, below. As a result the Chad Porsche is up into 18th overall, now 4th in class with the Apex Jaguar XKR now 20th overall. The Rollcentre Mosler has rejoined the race, 11th overall, losing well over 10 laps to their alternator change. The KTR Viper, which had been making progress back up the order, has now retired with a propshaft failure. “Something went bang!” The GTS Motorsport BMW’s problem is diff-related, the team is in the process of changing the errant item. The #49 GP Motorsport BMW has come to grief at Copse and with a second car off at Bridge the Safety Car is again on track: all of a sudden the Duller Z4M’s lead is up to a mighty 13 laps! The GP car appears back in pitlane on a flatbed looking a very sorry state – the car has clearly been rolled, on the car’s in lap, with Ed Lovett at the wheel. Guy Povey is almost inconsolable. The Duke Racing car is a retirement, brake problems causing contact between this car and the back of Fiona Leggate’s car. The Paragon Porsche now lies in third overall with the 911virgin Porsche just 7 seconds behind in the queue. The Rollcentre car is back up into fifth place, four laps down on the Duller M3. Latest car to hit trouble is the high flying 911virgin #20 car, Pete Morris reports that the car has lost its hydraulic fluid in the clutch assembly, the required parts are being scavenged from an ex-Tech 9 donor car, the #20 car plunging out of the top ten and finally rejoining in 16th position, losing around 16 laps. The Chad Mosler has rejoined and then pitted again for attention to a soft brake pedal, this car now 40th overall after the clash with the Top Gear BMW. The BMW meanwhile is in engine trouble, probably electronics related, with the accident damage looking relatively minor. More positively, there is a fine battle underway for sixth place overall between the Topcats Marcos and the #45 CWS BMW, currently this is looking like going the way of the Mantis. The Eclipse Mosler is flying along, a string of laps under 2 minutes from Martin Rich, but even at the closest point under pitstop countback, still at least 11 laps off the lead. One team running well is the County EMC team, this team fielding a pair of Porsche 968s in only its second race meeting, both cars lying just outside the top 20. The Simply Racing Porsche continues its amazing run, the car has now taken the Class 1 lead as the CWS BMW pits, Piers Masarati and the boys now in 8th overall. Now it’s the Eclipse Mosler’s turn to hit trouble, driveshaft problems and the car is in the garage as the race approaches 9 hour mark: the Paragon Porsche will inherit second place with the Duller M3 closing in.
GG Hour 9 Positions | 
