Britcar 24 Hours - Hour 1

60 starters, one from the pitlane (The #72 Follett BMW 130) and we're underway at 4:30 with a respectable crowd huddled in the main stand as the weather cools dramatically.

Rob Huff got well away on lap one after an early challenge from the Eclipse Mosler of Phil Keen - That move didn't work though and both Calum Lockie and Lukas Lichtner Hoyer got by to complete the 1,2, 3 after lap 1.

Not for long though as both Keen and Short made it by the Porsche for a Mosler 2,3,4, the leading four dropping the Porsche quickly with the Lotus Evora started by Johnny Mowlem closing in on the Jet Alliance car.

The Aquilla though was romping away an the lead was up to 6 seconds after lap 4 as Short in the new 5.7 litre Mosler got by Keen in the 7 litre Eclipse car for third.

The Chevron meanwhile had spun to a halt on the exit of Stowe in the early running and the purposeful looking little Honda Jazz was an early pit caller, the car overheating.

The Safety Car was scrambled for the recovery of the Chevron (collapsed rear suspension) and Lockie pitted with a gear selection issue for the #4 car.  It rejoins 35th but does not lose a lap to the leader.

The Mosler was put onto an alternative map and using the manual shift . It's a short fix to rectify the problem which they'll do if/when there's another problem and fix together.

As the race settled once the Chevron's recovery was complete and the Safety Car had been withdrawn Mowlem took a look at the JetAlliance Porsche but the Evora proved not to have quite enough ooomph to complete the job.

Phil Keen was now back on terms with the Rollcentre Mosler and made his way past just after the half hour mark.
The #80 BMW meantime gets a 2-lap penalty for too short a pitstop despite the car coming in for the investigation of a smell of fuel!

Witt Gamski had a post Safety car tussle with the RJN Nissan for sixth but behind that pair was a titanic battle with five cars separated by just tenths.

Gamski won the battle for 6th and was soon in pursuit of the Evora ahead. GT2 Ferrari vs GT4 Evora.   The Ferrari was soon by the Lotus leaving Mowlem in an inter GT4 battle with Alex Buncombe in close attendance in the Nissan.

40 minutes gone and Lockie was back up into the top 20 but had been lapped by the leader, Huff 11 seconds up on a now-charging Phil Keen.

Mowlem meanwhile fell victim to contact with the TVR, the Lotus spinning and dropping down to tenth, the Nissan 370Z meanwhile was being passed as a result by the #19 Marcos of Oliver Bryant.

Bryant's attack continued and he was soon with the MJC Ferrari - There was little resistance from Gamski and Bryant was up to 5th.

Lockie was the first of the potentially leading runners to make a routine stop at just before the 50 minute mark, tyres and fuel for the #4 Mosler.

Chevron has retired the #16 car - it seems a failure of part of the rear chassis - likely as a result of an incident, which involved contact with the pitwall yesterday. "The car was fully inspected after the incident and was undetectable at that point."

There's trouble too for the #26 Lanzante/ Red Bull Lotus Exige, the car seemingly stationary at Stowe - The Safety Car is scrambled almost immediately, with another car also seemingly involved.

Astonishingly Huff lapped the fourth placed JetAlliance Porsche just before the Safety Car was scrambled.

Hour 1 photos with thanks to Ian Wagstaff