Red Camel-Jordans.nl SEAT leads the Hankook 24H SILVERSTONE after two hours

Two hours into the opening round of the 2017 24H TOURING CAR ENDURANCE SERIES powered by Hankook, the Red Camel-Jordans.nl SEAT Leon TCR V3 DSG (#303, Rik Breukers/Ivo Breukers/Sjaco Griffioen/Klaus Kresnik) has taken over the lead. Starting driver Rik Breukers saved time at his first pit stop under Code 60 conditions and has jumped from fourth into first. Following closely is the Modena Motorsports Seat Leon TCR V3 SEQ (#216, Wayne Shen/Francis Tjia/John Shen/Benny Simonsen/Philippe Descombes). The Hong Kong based team won the A2 class with a Renault Clio at last year’s edition of the Hankook 24H SILVERSTONE. At the two hour mark, the track-club Seat Leon TCR V2 DSG (#121, Marcus Jewell/Cody Hill/Andrew Gordon-Colebrooke/Simon Atkinson) was third overall, just ahead of the pole setters, the MONLAU COMPETICION SEAT Leon TCR V2 DSG (#107, Jurgen Smet/Jose Manuel Perez Aicart/Alba Cano Ramirez/Alvaro Bajo).

Last year’s overall winners, the SP3-GT4 entered Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing BMW M3 V8 (#234, Richard Neary/Martin Short/Ian Stinton/Graham Coomes) run in fifth place overall, having to respect a minimum reference lap time that does not apply to the TCR cars. Second in SP3-GT4 is the CWS Ginetta G55 GT4 (#178, Colin White/Philippe Salini/Patrik Matthiesen/Martin Thomas). In third place, the Endurance Autosport Lotus Exige (#174, Adam Bewsey/Daniel Plant/Tom Bradshaw/Yuji Shinohara/Andrew Dolan) is already four laps down. Shortly before the start, the quickest SP3-GT4 qualifiers had to sort out bodywork issues and therefore start from the pit lane.

The A3 class is still in the hands of the BMW teams. The Moss Motorsport UK BMW E46 M3 (#136, Mike Moss/Chris Murphy/Scott Adam/Barry McMahon) leads from the Cor Euser Racing BMW M3 (#71, James Briody/Peter Klutt/Cor Euser/Maarten Mus/John Farano). The Dutch team had also started from the pit lane, hit back immediately and is still on the lead lap. Third is the Excelr8 Motorsport Mini F56 JCW (#134, Max Bladon/Stuart Hall/Mark Lemmer/Rob Smith/Matt Kelly). Excelr8 Motorsport modified this British Mini Challenge machine for its first ever endurance contest.

In the CUP1 class, the RMA Track Days – JJ Motorsport BMW M235i Racing Cup (#156, Leyton Clarke/Tony Rodriguez/James Little/Jason Baker) has taken over the top spot from the pole setters, the QSR BMW M235i Racing Cup (#154, Jimmy de Breucker/Mario Timmers/Rodrigue Gillion/Jeffrey van Hooydonck). The Sorg Rennsport BMW M235i Racing Cup (#151, Paul Abercrombie/William Lucas/Kye Wheatley/Rob Ellice/Sam Tordoff) follows in third spot.

During the first two hours, the Area MS / Owens Endurance Honda Civic (#91, Jack Fabby/Carl Swift/David Vincent/Mark Harris) kept the upper hand in their duel for the A2 class win with the Team Sally Racing Renault Clio Cup III (#52, Martin Sally Pedersen/Peter Obel/Mads Christensen/Steffan Jusjong).

The Hankook 24H SILVERSTONE end tomorrow at 16.00 hrs local time. There is live streaming in HD quality on the series’ website with commentary by Radiolemans.com until 22.00 hrs tonight. The coverage will continue tomorrow at 8.00 hrs. Regular updates will also be published on Twitter (@24HSeries), Facebook (24H Series) and Instagram (24H Series). Further information can be found on the series’ website, http://www.24htceseries.com.