Britcar
Britcar is an endurance sports car racing and touring car racing series in the United Kingdom.
 | |
| Category | Endurance |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Inaugural season | 2005 |
| Drivers | Varies |
| Teams | Varies |
| Official website | |
 Current season | |
It was formed in 1997, as a result of a discussion in a Nürburgring bar between Willie Moore and James Tucker. Folklore has it that James Tucker and John Veness formed the organizing European Endurance & Racing Club (EERC) with a £10 note found on the ground. The foremost aim was the re-introduction of a 24-hour race in Britain.
At the end of the 2015 season, James sold the Britcar rights to Hedley Cowell Events Ltd. For the 2016 season, Claire Hedley re-launched Britcar Endurance as the Dunlop Endurance Championship and Dunlop Trophy Championship. 2020 season sees the grids grow to an exceptional capacity and also they have been invited to support the world famous WEC at Spa Francorchamps & Silverstone Grand Prix. The season has seen grids increase and this year mid to late 20s on both. Races are 2 × 60 mins for Endurance & 2 × 50 Mins for Trophy.
Cars and results
There are two separate championships for different types of car; although some cars can run in both, they may be in different categories.
GTs, which include cars like Ferraris, Porsche Cup, Marcos, Moslers and Ginettas over a long-distance race, normally between two and four hours in length with a compulsory pit stop. Normally cars will have two or three drivers, but cars are sometimes driven by one driver, are given a longer time in the pits.
Production, which include cars like Renault Clio Cup, Seat León Supercopa, VW Golf, Porsche Boxster, BMW M3s, Lotus Elise and Mini Cooper S. These races are normally 90 minutes long, featuring a mandatory pit stop. There can be up to two drivers per car.
Drivers normally bring their own cars to Britcar events, where most cars are accepted if safe to race. Cars are assigned to different classes depending on the car, the car's equipment and other fittings the vehicle has.
Cars & classes
Cars that competed in the Britcar Endurance Championship from 2016 onwards.
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2020 season
For 2020, Britcar have devised a new series of slightly shorter races (to avoid the need to refuel) called the Britcar Trophy Category for cars under Class 4 performance; TCR and GT4 cars, for classes 5–7, of which the majority is made up of production cars, a few examples being the Smart Forfour, Mini JCW R56 and the Honda Civic Type R (FK2) which are common contenders in Class 5. Some Trophy Category events will run alongside Endurance events but will also head their own events too.
Britcar will run as a support event for the 2020 round of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, with two non-championship races consisting of Endurance and Trophy cars, which will also be open to non-Britcar cars fitting class 1-7 specifications.[1]
As a series popular for its diversity in teams, cars and drivers that had regained the attention it lost before its reformation, Britcar were invited to support two WEC rounds, at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone (subsequently cancelled). It will not be Britcar's first visit abroad as it has raced at Spa-Francorchamps multiple times. Britcar stated "we are immensely proud that our endeavours to produce a professionally-run nationally-based Championship have been recognised by organisers of one of the biggest Championships in global motorsport."[1]
Winners
Overall winner in each category, 2002 - 2019.
| Year | Series | Driver 1 | Driver 2 | Driver 3 | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Britcar Series | Paul Bates | James Palmer | BMW M3 E30 | ||
| 2003 | Britcar Series | Andy Rouse | Julian Rouse | RouseSport | Mercedes 190 DTM | |
| 2004 | Britcar Series | John Hammersley | Andrew Dunlop | Mark Hammersley | GTS Motorsport | BMW M3 |
| 2005 | Britcar Series | Harry Handkammer | David Leslie | GTS Motorsport | BMW M3 | |
| 2006 | Britcar Series | Calum Lockie | Bo McCormick | Hargreaves Motorsport | Ferrari 360 | |
| 2007 | Britcar GT | Steve Bell | Simon Leith | Geoff Steel Racing | BMW M3 | |
| 2007 | Production S1 | Mike Gardiner | Paul Fenton | Moore Racing | BMW M3 | |
| 2007 | Britsports | Edward Lovett | J C Harris | Lovett Sporting | Norma M20 | |
| 2008 | Britcar GT | Jan Persson | Rod Barrett | Jay Shepherd | Neil Garner Racing | Porsche 997 |
| 2008 | Production Cup | Ian Lawson | Mike Wilds | Anthony Wilds | ING Sport | BMW 320i |
| 2009 | GT | Witt Gamski | Keith Robinson | MJC | Ferrari 430 | |
| 2009 | Production | Kevin Clarke | Wayne Gibson | Intersport | BMW M3 | |
| 2010 | GT | Witt Gamski | Keith Robinson | MJC | Ferrari 430 | |
| 2010 | Production | Richard Adams | David Green | Bullrun | SEAT Cupra | |
| 2011 | GT | Craig Wilkins | Aaron Scott | GT3 Racing with KJ &TG | Dodge Viper | |
| 2011 | Production GTN | Alex Osbourne | James May | APO Sport | SEAT Leon | |
| 2012 | MSA British Endurance | Richard Adams | David Green | Martin Byford | Bullrun | Lotus Evora |
| 2012 | Production Cup | Edward Cockill | Harry Cockill | Daniels Motorsport | SEAT Leon | |
| 2013 | MSA British Endurance | Ian Loggie | Chris Jones | Team Parker Racing | Porsche 997 | |
| 2014 | Endurance | David Mason | Calum Lockie | FF Corse | Ferrari 458 | |
| 2015 | Endurance | David Mason | Calum Lockie | FF Corse | Ferrari 458 | |
| 2016 | Dunlop Endurance | Phil Hanson | Nigel Moore | Tockwith Motorsport | Audi R8 LMS | |
| 2016 | Dunlop GT | Chris Murphy | Jonathan Cocker | Whitebridge Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage GT4 | |
| 2016 | Dunlop Production | Mike Moss | Tom Howard | Kevin Clarke | Moss Motorsport | BMW M3 E46 |
| 2017 | Dunlop Endurance | Witt Gamski | Ross Wylie | Joe Macari | MJC Furlonger | Ferrari 458 GTE |
| 2017 | Dunlop Sprint | Rick Nevinson | Brad Nevinson | Sean Cooper | Track Focused | Porsche Cayman Clubsport GT4 |
| 2018 | Dunlop Endurance | Sarah Moore | Matt Greenwood | Tockwith Motorsport | Ginetta G50 | |
| 2018 | Dunlop Sprint | Jon Watt | Kristian Prosser | Moss Motorsport | BMW M3 E46 | |
| 2019 | Dunlop Endurance | Paul Bailey | Andy Schulz | SB Race Engineering | Ferrari 488 Challenge | |
| 2020 | Dunlop Endurance | Danny Harrison | Jem Hepworth | VR Motorsport | Praga R1T Evo | |
| 2020 | Dunlop Trophy | Oliver Smith | JC Racing | BMW M3 E36 |
History
The successful first year of competition was in 2002, and following tremendous growth in 2003, it attracted Sky Sports coverage in their Motor Sports section in 2004. The first year of the Britcar 24-Hour Race was 2005 which was won by Rollcentre Mosler of Martin Short.[2] This was followed by packed grids in 2006 season culminating in a capacity field for the 24-Hours.[3] EERC became a Motor Sports Association (MSA) approved Championship in 2007 as well being the now essential 24 hours. It played a supporting role to the British round of the A1 Grand Prix.
In 2011 it became known as the MSA British Endurance championship.
Such was its popularity in some seasons that over-subscription meant there are reserves waiting for grid positions.
For the 2017 season, the format was changed. Drivers in all races would now accrue points towards the Dunlop Endurance Championship but drivers could choose to do two 50-minute races under the Sprint category, or one 50-minute and one 2-hour race in the Endurance category. Grids were combined and most events were to take place over a single day to save costs. The night race proved so popular in 2016 that a second night race was introduced, to run at Silverstone earlier in the same month.
For the 2019 season the format was changed again, merging Endurance and Sprint categories into a single grid for two 60-minute races per weekend, finishing the season with a single 60- and a single 120-minute night race at Brands Hatch.
Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour
Britcar traditionally hosted an endurance race on the Silverstone GP circuit.
The presenters of the well-known British car show Top Gear, namely Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May - together with 'The Stig' - took part in the 2007 event, in a BMW 330d, coming third of the five diesel cars, and 39th overall, at the end of the 24 Hours.[4]
At the end of the 2015 season, the rights for the Silverstone 24 hour endurance race were sold to Creventic to become the UK edition of their FIA "touring car" Endurance Series - although this round was then dropped in 2019.
For this event's history, see Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour
References
- Wood, Steve. "Britcar Supports FIA WEC at Spa 2020". Britcar Endurance. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- "24hr_ August 05". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
- IMI: The Institute of the Motor Industry Information > Britcar 24 hours of Silverstone Archived October 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=eerc/2007/73663.pdf Britcar 24hr results 2007
External links
- britcar-endurance.com official website from 2016 season onwards
- Britcar24hr.co.uk original URL - old site contents no longer available