Britcar 24 Hours - To The Finish The #58 Speedworks Ginetta gets a 2 lap penalty for too short a pit stop. The third placed #42 Azteca Porsche pits for a routine service. #21 Marcos moves up another place, Steve Hyde taking the Mantis through to 17th. With just under two and a half hours to go, we're on the lookout for on-track battles. Aside from the lead, which is down to about 25 seconds, we have same-lap contests for eleventh position between the #45, #52 and #37 cars, all in class three, and all vying for sixth in that class. The second-placed Ferrari #8 pits. It's 14:08, and for the first time in some while, even the drizzle has eased. John Gaw is now aboard the Ferrari, presumably to the finish. Back up into the top ten, with others taking their regular pitstops, is the Team LNT Ginetta G40. Other class battles include one in Class 4 for 21st overall; the #79 Honda Integra is being caught quickly by the #98 Leon Supercopa. The leader is into the pits. Seefried is out, and Michael Nykjaer takes over in the cockpit. As he does so, John Gaw posts a 2:16 in the pursuing Ferrari. Race Positions as 21 Hours #22, 8, 42, 1, 38, 4, 44, 49, 32, 45, 83, 52, 37, 59, 46, 21, 51, 81, 73, 35, 79, 98, 2, 26, 99, 91, 58, 94, 54, 33, 77, 89, 87, 80, 85, 34, 29, 74, 57, 72, 19, 92, 43, 76, 86, 50, 60, 7, 84, 68, 56, 75, 39, 82, 6, 3, 48, 71, 36, 16 With both the leaders having completed their pitstops, and just over two hours to go, the gap is now 38 seconds. Hopefully we'll get some indication of Nykjaer's pace in lap or two. Gaw's just done two 2:16 laps, and Nykjaer's first flyer is a 2:18. The gap is narrowing. A 2:21 from Nykjaer, and Gaw will be able to see the leader before much longer. The gap has been squeezed to nearer 33 seconds. Gaw continues to being down the gap by between one and two seconds each lap, but he's also gaining on a heavy gaggle of traffic, so his progress may slow. Heading back into the top 20 is the delayed NMR Aston #35, currently being driven by Ben de Zille Butler. However, he's being caught by the #26 Lotus, which in turn is being reeled in by the #2 Eclipse Mosler. The traffic has given Nykjaer a breather, as Gaw's relentless pursuit allows the leader to regain a few tenths. His advantage has recovered to 36 seconds. Under two hours to go, and the gap for the lead is hovering around 34 seconds. Nykjaer has covered 515 laps, and more than 40 cars are still rolling. An update on the Welch Motorsport Seat Leons. The #44 is still well within the top ten, running 7th, but the #45 has dropped back from tenth to 13th with an engine issue. The team believes they've fixed the problem. News from the MJC squad - their predicted fuel usage is around 0.7 litres per minute when the car isn't being pressured (although clearly that's not the case at the moment!). The Ferrari has a 110 litre tank, MJC believes the Porsche has a 120 litre tank. Martin Rich, though, said on commentary overnight that the #22 car actually had a 100 litre tank. Ferrari intend to wait to see which way the Porsche squad will jump on refuelling rather than anticipating what they think they'll do. Their reckoning is that they (the Ferrari) will run out of fuel on the final lap, and still finish second, and still win the class. The gap is coming down dramatically again. 518 laps gone, an hour and 48 minutes to go, and the gap is 30 seconds. Gaps are also starting to appear in the clouds, and for a few moments, bright sunshine bathes the pitlane. A dry line is starting to appear around some sections of the track. Gaw is finding space among the traffic too, and has upped his pace - possibly also related to tyres and track - and the leader's advantage is shrinking visibly. The last chunk he devoured was more than four seconds, and the interim is just 22 seconds. It's 14:48 here at Silverstone. Also going very quickly at the moment, and between the two leaders on track, is the fourth-placed Top Cats Mosler #1, Ben Clucas posting a 2:15 to the leader's 2:22 and John Gaw's 2:17. But what rubber is the Mosler on? It's very good on inters, and the other two may be on wets. The gap first-to-second continues to tumble. A 2:21 for the leader, a 2:16 for the #1, and 2:20 for Gaw. The Ferrari visibly moved wide down the pit straight on its last pass, clearly looking for damp patches. The gap dips below 16 seconds. Meanwhile the CWS BMW #37 is stationery in the pits and in free-fall down the order. It had been lying within the top-ten, but that now a distant memory. Threading the needle between slow cars down the pit straight, Gaw reduces the gap to 14 seconds on lap 523, ninety-six minutes remaining. Two more laps and the Eclipse Mosler should regain the top-twenty. Next lap through a 2:20.8 from the leader, a 2:19.879 for Gaw, and a 2:16.889 for the fourth-placed car, the Top Cats Mosler. Clucas (#1) has un-lapped himself from the leader around the outside at Stowe. Gaw is losing time now, as he persists with wets, and is forced to run wide off the racing line to find the damper patches. Unless the rain returns, he may have to pit for tyres. Dot on three o'clock, and the #2 Eclipse Mosler does indeed move back into the top twenty. Only one back-marker between first and second now. The gap has moved back out though to around 13 seconds, but a 2:21.1 from Nykjaer isn't enough, as Gaw's search for a damp line is rewarded with a 2:17.6, and a nine-second gap. Lap 528, and the difference between first and second is down to 6.2 seconds. A 2:21.4 from the leader, and Gaw responds with a 2:20.5, and the Ferrari is almost within spitting distance. Nearly 23 hours into a 24 hour race, and we've still got a race on our hands. The gap is just 1.007 seconds. Two cars side-by-side through Brooklands, and the leader's held up a little, to match a similar delay earlier in the lap for Gaw, as the leaders dice through dense traffic. Even so, the margin's just seven tenths of a second. Questions now over fuel and tyres for both - can either go the distance? The traffic repaid Nykjaer that time around, and he found a second over Gaw. The #45 Seat has taken 11th from the #52 Vantage Racing Aston. The team behind the 9th-placed #30 BMW reports they've lost 6th gear, but they have several laps in hand over the Team LNT G40. A much clearer lap for the leaders, and Gaw responds, taking advantage to move back down on the Porsche's tail, the gap squeezed to 0.6 seconds. Gaw takes the lead before Hangar Straight - the Ferrari leads and 72 minutes remain. By the end of the lap he's established a 1.6 second lead for the MJC Ferrari. Nykjaer may have lost the overall lead, but he still heads the Class 2 battle by 49 laps over the #21 Marcos Mantis, with the #19 third, 131 laps down and in the pits - possibly a retirement. Class 3 meanwhile is lead by the third-placed overall #32 Azteca Porsche, 13 laps down on the overall leader, but nine laps up on its closest class rival, the #38 Jota Aston Martin, with the #44 Welch Seat third in class and 7th overall. Class 4 has been lead for many, many hours by the Team LNT Ginetta G40, tenth overall, 39 laps off the lead, but 17 laps clear of the second-in-class #73 Ford Escort Cosworth, with the #81 Honda Civic Type R (18th overall) third. The leader pits with 66 minutes remaining. The Ferrari takes on just one 25 litre churn of fuel and changes to inters – a real risk. There are still grey skies above, and a fair likelihood of more rain. Onto his first flying lap, Gaw is 90 seconds behind the leader. He needs to exploit the track conditions while his tyres are best suited to them. Nykjaer is still doing 2:20, 2:21 laps, so we await Gaw’s first flyer for an indication of his pace. Gaw’s first lap with traffic is a 2:19, so no slower on inters than the Porsche on wets. Exactly an hour of the race remains. Five minutes later and the JetAlliance pit crew is readying for the leader's arrival, but without traffic Gaw is lapping five or six seconds a lap quicker than Nykjaer. Lap 541, with the Porsche to pit imminently, the gap is 81 seconds. At 15:39 Nykjaer pits, and is baulked at the entry, just briefly, by the Honda Jazz. The Porsche is fitted with inters, and sets off from its garage just as Gaw sweeps by on the main straight, recording a 2:13 for the Ferrari. By the time the blue and white 997 reaches the pit exit, Gaw is blasting through Becketts and heading for Hangar. Gaw's next lap is a 2:14. The gap is 33.6s as the #22 Porsche begins its first flyer on the intermediate tyres. A 2:11 for the Ferrari - 2:16 for the Porsche - the gap is all but 40 seconds. 45 minutes of the race remain. The same pattern on the next lap seems to indicate that Jet Alliance need to hope for MJC misfortune. The Ferrari's pace has eased a little, Gaw seems to be holding the gap at around 45 seconds. The Ginetta G40 has just ceded 10th position overall to Archie Hamilton's #45 Welch SEAT. Sean McInerney is going to take 19th place in the recovering Eclipse Mosler before the end of the race, his pace at the moment very impressive and matching that of the lead battle. He goes by the #81 car with 25 minutes to go. The sky has darkened very significantly and the wind has picked up too (as well as some ill winds in the pitlane!) - In the meantime Gaw is down to a 2:12 - Nykjaer a 2:15 - the gap 51 seconds - 22 minutes remaining. The Vantage Racing Aston goes by the Ginetta G40 for 11th position. 9 minutes remaining. The lead gap is going up - 6 minutes remaining and its 56 seconds. 3 minutes to go and the rain is pouring down - the lead gap though is a full minute. The Ferrari takes the checkered flag - a great win for the last minute entry and a great drive from John Gaw - Jet Alliance takes the class 2 win and second overall - 58 seconds behind the 430. The Class 3 winning #42 Azteca Porsche comes home third after s great run. Class 4 was dominated by the little Ginetta G40 - They'll drive it back to Garforth with huge pride. A good race and a result that was still in doubt well into the final hour. Congratulations to John Gaw, Witt Gamski, Keith Robinson and Phil Dryburgh and all at MJC and Team Kinfaun. Finishing Positions: #8, 22, 42, 1, 38, 4, 44, 49, 32, 45, 52, 83, 46, 37, 59, 21, 51, 73, 2, 81, 26, 35, 79, 98, 58, 54, 91, 94, 99, 34, 33, 80, 85,87, 77, 89, 29, 74, 72, 43, 92, 76, 60, 19, 50, 84, 57, 68, 7, 56,86, 75, 39, 82, 6, 3, 48, 71, 36, 16 With many thanks to Peter May, Marcus Potts, Ian Wagstaff, Pippa Nielsen and Steve Wood for all of their assistance. GG | 
