Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour

The Silverstone 24 Hour was a sports car race in endurance racing, held annually at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom until 2018.

Silverstone 24 Hour
24H Series
VenueSilverstone Circuit
First race2005
Duration24 hours
Most wins (driver)Jamie Campbell-Walter, Dieter Quester, Dirk Werner, Mark Poole, Martin Short, Richard Abra (2)
Most wins (team)Duller Motorsport, Rollcentre Racing (2)
Most wins (manufacturer)BMW (4)

The race was originally organised by Britcar. The 2009 race was shortened to 500 miles due to the recession. In 2011 the race used the new arena section for the first time. In 2010 the race continued to use the bridge section that the race had used in previous years despite other racing series already switching to the new layout. The 2013 edition was shortened to 1000 km. For 2015 the race was called the Dunlop 24hr at Silverstone for sponsorship reasons.[1]

On October 2, 2015 Creventic, the promoter and organiser of the 24H Series and the Touring Car Endurance Series, announced they would organise the Silverstone 24-Hour race in 2016. It was the third round of the 2016 24H Series season and the first round of the 2016 Touring Car Endurance Series season. Every round of the 24H Series can be entered with a GT car, but this race is only open to non-GT cars.[2]

Winners edit

Year Drivers Team Car Laps / Distance
2005   Martin Short
  Shaun Balfe
  Jamie Derbyshire
  Nick Jacobs
  Balfe Motorsport/Rollcentre Racing Mosler MT900R 603 / 3,100.023 km (1,926.265 mi)[3][4]
2006   Dieter Quester
  Dirk Werner
  Tim Mullen
  Jamie Campbell-Walter
  Duller Motorsport BMW Z4 (E85) 595 / 3,058.895 km (1,900.709 mi)[3][5]
2007   Dieter Quester
  Dirk Werner
  Johannes Stuck
  Jamie Campbell-Walter
  Duller Motorsport BMW Z4 (E85) 596 / 3,064.036 km (1,903.904 mi)[3][6]
2008   Mark Sumpter
  Adrian Slater
  Andy Purdie
  Paragon Porsche Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 603 / 3,100.023 km (1,926.265 mi)[3][7]
2009   Andrew Beaumont
  Pat Gormley
  Ben Clucas
  Topcats Racing Mosler MT900R 156 / 801.996 km (498.337 mi)[A 1]
2010   Witt Gamski
  Keith Robinson
  John Gaw
  Phil Dryburgh
  MJC Ltd Ferrari F430 GTC 565 / 3,334.065 km (2,071.692 mi)
2011   Michael McInerney
  Sean McInerney
  Phil Keen
  Eclipse Motorsport Ferrari F430 GTC 573 / 3,375.543 km (2,097.465 mi)
2012   Michael Symons
  Clint Bardwell
  Richard Abra
  Mark Poole
  MP Motorsport/JCAM BMW M3 E46 GTR 564 / 3,322.524 km (2,064.521 mi)
2013   Richard Abra
  Mark Poole
  Barwell Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 158 / 930.778 km (578.359 mi)[8][A 2]
2015   Andrew Howard
  Jonathan Adam
  Jamie Chadwick
  Ross Gunn
  Harry Whale
  Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4 529 / 3,116.256 km (1,936.352 mi)[9]
2016   Charles Lamb
  Richard Neary
  "Richard Roberts"
  Martin Short
  Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing BMW M3 E46 GTR 512 / 3,016.192 km (1,874.175 mi)[10]
2017   Sebastiaan Bleekemolen
  Melvin de Groot
  Rene Steenmetz
  Robert Smith
  Team Bleekemolen SEAT León TCR V2 SEQ 549 / 3,233.61 km (2,009.27 mi)[11]
2018   Ivo Breukers
  Rik Breukers
  Konstantīns Calko
  Red Camel-Jordans.nl SEAT LCR TCR V3 DSG 411 / 2,420.79 km (1,504.21 mi)[12]
  1. ^ 500 mile distance
  2. ^ 1000 km distance

Participants edit

Many big name teams have taken part in the race such as Rollcentre Racing, Jet Alliance Motorsport and Duller Motorsport. As of the end of the 2016 race, Duller Motorsport and Rollcentre Racing are the only teams that have won this event more than once.

Factory effort teams have also attempted it such as Ginetta, Mazda and Nissan.

In 2007, Top Gear took part in this race using a diesel BMW 3 series for a Top Gear Challenge. They finished the race, third in class, ahead of one of their rival teams who were also competing with a diesel BMW 3 Series.[13]

In 2012, a team of ex-servicemen took part under the Mission Motorsport banner in a Nissan 370Z. They finished in 17th overall, scoring a top ten class result.

In 2015, the Ginetta Nissan LMP3 took its debut 24 hour race start with the factory Team LNT squad. Among the driver roster was six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy. 2015 also marked the first year for a female scoring outright victory; Jamie Chadwick aboard the #35 Beechdean Aston Martin.

Since 2016, the race is restricted to touring cars and 24H-Specials.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "24 Hour racing in England is BACK! - Britcar". www.britcar24hr.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-11-24.
  2. ^ "Announcement Hankook 24H Silverstone received with great enthusiasm". Creventic. October 5, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d "Silverstone Britcar 24 Hour" (PDF). britcar24hr.co.uk. Britcar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  4. ^ "Motorsport.com: News channel". www.motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2008-11-16.
  5. ^ http://www.docstoc.com/docs/13593563/2005-PFC-Championship-List [bare URL]
  6. ^ "Galleries by trackside".
  7. ^ "Paragon Porsche at Britcar Silverstone 24 Hour 2008". paragonporsche.com. Archived from the original on 2009-08-02.
  8. ^ Timing Solutuions Ltd. (22 September 2013). "Britcar 1000k" (PDF). Britcar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  9. ^ Timing Solutuions Ltd. (26 April 2015). "Dunlop 24hr Race" (PDF). Britcar. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  10. ^ Creventic (3 April 2016). "24H Series" (PDF). Creventic. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  11. ^ Creventic (2 April 2017). "24H Series" (PDF). Creventic. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  12. ^ Creventic (11 March 2018). "24H TCE Series" (PDF). Creventic. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  13. ^ "BBC One - Top Gear, Series 10, Episode 9".