Britcar 500, Silverstone – Preview
A Six-Hour Sprint In Prospect

This weekend’s six-hour Britcar 500 will be a virtual sprint from lights to flag, with the fastest laps being set at any time in the race. Six hours will be longer than the normal Britcar format, but not so long that we’ll see the giant-killing actions of the more fuel-efficient lesser-powered cars that have been evident in the Britcar 24 hour races.

Britcar is one of the few championships in Europe where you can seriously campaign a Mosler, and this race will see three examples in Class 1 – the two registered points-scoring entries from Eclipse (Sean and Michael McInerney), and Topcats (Andrew Beaumont/Pat Gormley), plus the invitation works Rollcentre car for team boss Martin Short and Gregor Fisken. Rollcentre, with Short amongst the driver squad, were the overall winners of the inaugural Britcar 24 hours in 2005, but since then victory has eluded a Mosler in this race, which last year was claimed by the Paragon Porsche 911 RSR.  Mark Sumpter and Adrian Slater return to reclaim their crown, and it is indeed very likely that the overall win will come from a Class 1 machine.

The cars will be fuelled to the gunwhales for the first stint, and likely to run for around 70 minutes before taking their first stop. Thereafter, with a maximum fill of 50 litres, the Moslers will be stopping every 35/40 minutes, with maybe the Paragon car being just a bit more efficient; perhaps taking one less fill over the race distance. Between those stops, though, it will be a series of sprints at a blistering pace. The Porsche will be the only European car in the Class 1 contingent, in fact, for the remaining invitation entries both represent American muscle – Mitch Millett’s Chevrolet Corvette (a front-runner in the GT Cup) and Ken Finneran’s almost-classic Dodge Viper.

Class 2 is where the serious championship points are being scored, and Witt Gamski has always claimed that his ex-Le Mans Ferrari 360, which he shares with Keith Robinson, is at its best after a four-hour run - which augurs well for the job in hand this weekend - plus veteran Joe Macari will boost the driving force. Fast, but sadly fragile too, has been the Master Motorsport Prosport LM3000 of Michael Millard and Steven Brady – capable of taking on the Class 1 cars for pace, more economic with its V6 Ford Granada-based grunter, but prone to random maladies.

The M-TECH team have successfully spread themselves wide this season; their second season in Britcar has yielded a maiden win for Duncan Cameron and Mike Edmonds in the Ferrari 430, and Duncan, with Matt Griffin, has claimed a win in British GT in the team’s 430 Scuderia. They currently lie joint second in the overall championship, in front of the resurgent Topcats Racing Marcos Mantis of Mick Merc er and Richard Fores, with Luc Paillard drafted in for longer races. The all-Scottish Team Kinfaun, with John Gaw and Phil Dryburgh piloting the Porsche 997, have diluted their season with some extra-curricular activities, and their points tally barely reflects the outstanding performances they have made. Paul Cope’s Venturi has Le Mans 24 Hours provenance, and has been impressive thus far, with Paul driving alone; the essential co-drivers for this race have yet to be announced.  Amongst the invitation entries, Howard Spooner’s Morgan Aero, and the M-TECH run Ferrari 430 of Peer Slipsager and Almo Coppelli could be significant.

The Class 3 Topcats Marcos Mantis of Jon Harrison and Neil Huggins currently heads the class standings, with Britcar stalwart Harrison getting more out of himself and the car every season, every race, whilst Huggins returned from a four-year hiatus in 2008 to revitalise the car’s aspirations. Rob Wilson –no, not the Rob Wilson – won the Martini Trophy in this car a month or so back, in only his fourth race, and boosts the driver line-up.

Creeping up the order, after missing the first round, are reigning champions Rod Barrett, Jan Persson and Jay Shepherd, in the Hawthorns Motorsport Porsche 996 (joined by Mark Coleing for this outing), whilst their stablemates, Spaniards Javier Morcillo and Manuel Cintrano, in a similar machine, come fresh from a hard-fought class win at Snetterton.  Former Britcar regular Pete Morris sold his Porsche 996 to the newly-formed CTR/Alfatune team at the start of the year, and the burly midlander returns to his former machine to assist regulars Chris Bentley and Danish single-seater ace Vibe Smed, whilst the Jemco team also receive a boost to the driving squad, with 2007 Britcar joint champion Steve Bell joining Kevin Hancock and Leigh Smart in the Ginetta G50.  Significant, though, will be the Red Bull liveried Lotus Exige of championship sponsor, Alistair MacKinnon, run by Lanzante, and co-driven by team boss Dean Lanzante and Red Bull F1 design chief Adrian Newey – if he gets time off from Suzuka.

The Aston Martin Challenge, a race-within-a-race, is gaining impetus as the season progresses, with the last round at Snetterton seeing the numbers up, and rejuvenation of fortunes for some. The Nicholas Mee Racing Vantage, driven by Dutch historic racers Karsten Le Blanc and Christiaen van Lanschot still tops the tables, and will be joined by a second car from the team – expect perhaps some well-known names to be present here – whilst the similar Vantage Racing entry, managed by veteran endurance expert Hugh Chamberlain, will see young hotshoe Stuart Hall joining regular Tom Black. George Miller and Aston Martin test driver Les Goble crew the Tiger Coffee-sponsored car, whilst Calum Lockie certainly spiced things up last time out at Snetterton, sharing Paul White’s Strata 21- backed machine.

Significant amongst the Class 3 invitation entries are Howard Spooner’s Morgan Aero, British GT stars Craig Wilkins and Aaron Scott in a Ginetta G50, and  Mike Luck’s E-Type Jaguar, to be co-driven by recent Tour Britannia winner Nick Whale.

With a combined grid of Britcar GT and Britcar Production competitors, we should see the front-running GT cars lapping the small saloons after five or six laps, so the Production runners will need to keep an eye on their mirrors whilst battling for class position. The order may change around one-third distance, when the pit stops for the more thirsty GT cars will be seen to have had an effect, but this six-hour race is just a little too short for a giant-killing act to emerge from the saloon contingent.

Class 1 of Production differs little from Class 3 of GT, body shape being the general discerning factor, so expect the Intersport BMW M3 of Kevin Clarke and Wayne Gibson to be amongst the Porsche 996s from the get-go. The JordanSport Ford Mustang has undergone progressive mechanical and aerodynamic enhancements from the pure GT4 spec that it started the season with, and a sequential box will be new for this race; Stuart Scott, Steve Wood, and former BTCC race winner Mike Jordan are the driver line-up.

Father-and-son pairing David and Robert Fenn have enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame this season, and the Snetterton race winners are likely to forsake their usual Lotus Elise for their re-vamped ex-road going Honda NSX for this event, pre-empting their proposed 2010 campaign in a full-blown Super GT version of the model.

Ian Lawson’s dismal season, in the BMW 320i he shares with Mike and Anthony Wilds, has been the bad-luck story of the year – a litany of mechanical failures has seen the 2008 Britcar Production champions barely get out of the blocks so far, so they will be looking for a good result. The small family team of Dave, Jason and Michael Cox, though, are having fun in their self-run “borrowed” Ford Escort Turbo, which had been languishing in a barn for 11 years, whilst the Synchro Motorsport team, made up of employees from the Swindon plant, have hit engine problems with their Civic recently, after an encouraging start to the season – Dave Allan and Peter Venn will be looking for a return to form. 

Class 3 sees three regular entries competing for points; The 888 Solutions team pool all of their resources into their more reliable Honda Civic, and the student-run MGZS of Lunar Racing has the usual pairing of teenage sensation Cassey Watson and the experienced Alan Bonner supplemented by some of their network of pilots, whilst Ashley Woodman and Owen Thomas share the BPM Racing Renault Clio with broadcaster Vicky Butler-Henderson.  Looking to steal the glory, though, could be the little Chimptune “shopping” Lotus Elise.

With big GT cars sharing the track with small saloons, and over half the race run in total darkness, anything could happen; but, barring mechanical failure, it will be the speed between pit stops that will determine the winner here.

Link to entry list - here

Steve Wood