Car 63 - 24hr

whatapalaver · 13 Sep 2005, 10:37 (Ref:1406539)

I was not allowed out to play at the weekend (but the base for the new shed is lovely!), and therefore now trying to catch up on the 'happenings'. Car 63 in the 24hr race seems to have caught a large following of marshals, but whats the story here? Please tell all...

chezza · 13 Sep 2005, 10:45 (Ref:1406546)

It was a more or less standard merc that was driven to and from the race (from Germany as far as I can remember) and made it through the 24 hours.

whatapalaver · 13 Sep 2005, 10:53 (Ref:1406552)

Wonderful!

Thanks for the quick answer!

**Asp** · 13 Sep 2005, 10:54 (Ref:1406554)

As I understand it it's only stops were to collect fares!

Here's a good paragraph explaining how it went on:

Quote:

Steve Wood on the Britcar website
The Derichs Rennwagen road-registered Mercedes 500, the butt of gentle humour about taxis, nodding dogs, and beaded seat covers at the start, plodded round trouble- free, the driver taking time out to wave to photographers, and amazingly setting an early personal fastest lap behind the safety car! Just one set of tyres were taken on, but a coat was thrown in as a precaution during a pit stop in the chilly small hours of Sunday morning. The team manager reported that they had never opened the toolbox, and it was all fun, and no problems.

Cynic · 13 Sep 2005, 11:43 (Ref:1406586)

We also heard that the only reason they had to change tyres was because the set the car started on had also been used at the Nurburgring 24hr!!!

jonbryant · 13 Sep 2005, 12:16 (Ref:1406619)

I didn't see a big old Merc at the 24hr I'm afraid... Well, not being driven round the circuit. Although out of 200-odd cars I may have missed one.

King Arthur · 13 Sep 2005, 12:30 (Ref:1406634)

As a member of the refuelling team I have to say they were wonderfull only a refueller and the driver ( who acted as the fire marshall). the longest part of their pitstops was changing all 6 cds in the autochanger. I not sure if everybody realised but it was an automatic as well. Never found out if they used the cruise control on their longer stints. Truly made the event.

chezza · 13 Sep 2005, 12:52 (Ref:1406654)

Ah yes I had heard rumours about them changing CD's and things!

I think this was fantastic and I wonder if the organisers can get a word to the team to show the marshals appreciation!

The Fat Clerk · 13 Sep 2005, 16:26 (Ref:1406769)

Hear hear, to me the car captured the spirit of the event. The Drivers were very good @ responding to Blue Flags from Brooklands.

Startline Ed · 13 Sep 2005, 17:43 (Ref:1406846)

Flagging at Woodcote Gap, I found that the Merc didnt need to be blue flagged, they knew when faster cars were closing and moved out of the way. Very good driving skills there.

Very good to see it racing, people racing purely for enjoyment.

Shelagh · 13 Sep 2005, 18:42 (Ref:1406920)

On Friday at Bridge, the Merc was a joy to blue flag. You know how nice it is to know that the flag has been seen and acted upon.

In race control we got the hourly timesheets and the first check I made every time was on No 63 - they finished 28th overall (out of 40 finishers), managed 460 laps and were 143 laps adrift of the winner. Average MPH for the race was 61.17 (winner's average 80.23 mph) with a best lap time of 2:32.845 (fastest lap of the race was 1:57.171 by Cirtek Porsche No 3).

Their pit equipment consisted of 4 tyres and a picnic table..... Bill seems to think they were the only road registered entry, but can't be sure. Certainly at the other end of the scale, the eventual winners Rollcentre Racing, threw new tyres at the car with gay abandon - don't know how many they got through but there was an awful lot of rubber lying around their pit! Bill was impressed at the way they used a dustpan and brush to sweep up the carbon dust from the brakes - a tidy pit is a happy pit!!!!

By the way, I spoke to James Tucker on Sunday and told him that if there was any such prize on offer for "spirit of the meeting" then No 63 was the only winner. Don't know if that had any effect (or even if there was such a prize). At the time he was discussing Driver of the event with Brian Jones so I just interrupted (I have no pride)!

Must now go and see if they have a website!

Shelagh

Alan Green · 13 Sep 2005, 18:55 (Ref:1406931)

I'm sure that it'll get a mention on Tin Top Tuesday - www.globecast907.com Should be worth a listen to get Matt James' thoughts about the weekend

Eddy V · 13 Sep 2005, 19:33 (Ref:1406976)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chezza

I think this was fantastic and I wonder if the organisers can get a word to the team to show the marshals appreciation!

If you let me know who the drivers are, I'll be able to pass this on.

Nice to see you on Saturday.

Steve.Wood · 13 Sep 2005, 20:12 (Ref:1407015)

I must admit that I didn't know that it was driven to the circuit, nor that it was automatic. That makes the story even better !

Truth is, you can only accept a car like that in 24 hour race, for its novelty value. It would get in the way during a 2 hour Britcar thrash. There were several more serious teams that frowned upon it, and also the Morgan too - a car that has won 93 races !

Regarding road-going cars, Jonathan Ridley-Holloway's Civic (52) is still taxed to the end of the month, and both the Fenton/Gardiner M3 (76), and the Rodriguez/Moore ersatz GTR (31) were originally road cars. The Rodriguez car is actually a CSL rebuilt to look like a GTR.

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