Category | Endurance |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Inaugural season | 2005 |
Drivers | Varies |
Teams | Varies |
Tyre suppliers | Goodyear |
Drivers' champion | Endurance: Class A: Marcus Clutton Hugo Cook Peter Erceg Class B: Richard Avery Nick Hull Class C: David Harrison Nathan Luckey Class D: Bal Sidu Josh Steed Class E: Chris Bialan Simon Mason Class F: Adam Thompson Callum Thompson Class G: Jonny MacGregor Arthur Simondet Trophy Class 1: Marco Anastasi Class 2: Rob Ellick Craig Flemings Mark Jones Class 3: Caleb McDuff Dom Shore Bobby Trundley Clio: Maurice Henry Hadley Simpson |
Official website | |
Current season |
Britcar is an endurance sports car racing and touring car racing series in the United Kingdom.
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. For 2020 the series was invited to support the FIA World Endurance Championship races at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone. The race format was 2 × 60 mins Endurance races and 2 × 50 mins Trophy races.
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 that competed in the Britcar Endurance Championship from 2016 onwards:
Cars that competed in the British Endurance Championship from 2022 onwards:
As a series popular for its diversity in teams, cars and drivers that had regained the attention it lost before its reformation,[ according to whom? ] Britcar were invited to support two WEC rounds, at Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone (subsequently cancelled). 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]
Reflecting diversity in both the Endurance and Trophy series, among the teams are Team BRIT [2] whose drivers are all disabled, using specially developed hand controls.
Overall winner in each category, 2002 - 2022.
Year | Series | Driver 1 | Driver 2 | Driver 3 | Driver 4 | 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 | |||
2021 | Praga | Richard Wells | Alex Kapadia | Tim Gray | Tim Gray Motorsport | Praga R1 | |
2021 | Goodyear Britcar Endurance | Will Powell | David Scaramanga | Motus One with Moorgate | McLaren 650S GT3 | ||
2021 | Goodyear Britcar Trophy | Simon Baker | Kevin Clarke | Ollie Reubens | Woodrow Motorsport | BMW 1M E82 | |
2022 | MSUK British Endurance Championship | Wayne Marrs | Tom Jackson | Rob Boston Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | ||
2022 | Goodyear Britcar Trophy | Chris Overend | James Whitley | Julian Thomas | Team BRIT | BMW M240i Racing | |
2023 | MSUK British Endurance Championship | Bradley Thurston | Daryl DeLeon | Adam Hatfield | Alex Sedgewick | Team HARD | Porsche 991 Cup |
2023 | ROWE Britcar Trophy | Rhys Lloyd | Jack Meakin | Dragon Sport | Renault Clio MkIV | ||
2024 | MSUK British Endurance Championship | Peter Erceg | Marcus Clutton (Pro) | Hugo Cook (Pro) | PB Racing by JMH | Audi R8 GT3 | |
2024 | ROWE Britcar Trophy | Mark Jones | Rob Ellick | Craig Fleming | TSR | Audi TT |
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. [3] This was followed by packed grids in 2006 season culminating in a capacity field for the 24-Hours. [4] 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.
For 2020, Britcar introduced a Trophy category [5] and a new series of shorter races named the Britcar Trophy Category for cars under Class 4 performance and the TCR and GT4 cars, for classes 5–7. The majority of these new classes are production cars, such as the Smart Forfour, Mini JCW R56 and the Honda Civic Type R (FK2) which were popular in Class 5. Some Trophy Category events ran alongside Endurance events, whilst other events ran dedicated Trophy cards with no Endurance or Praga rounds at the weekend.
Also in 2020, the Endurance grid saw several new Praga sportscar prototype R1 and R1T entries balanced into the existing Endurance class system. In 2021 these entries were given a dedicated class.
In 2020 Britcar ran as a support event for the FIA World Endurance Championship for the first time, at the 2020 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps event, with two non-championship races consisting of Endurance and Trophy cars plus non-Britcar cars with one-off entries made under class 1 through class 7 specifications. [1] WEC had additionally extended the invite to support the 2020 Silverstone event, but that entire event including the WEC round was later cancelled.
(This marked the introduction of the relationship with WEC specifically; Britcar has raced outside the UK, including at Spa-Francorchamps, in many earlier years.)
In 2021 the title sponsor changed from Dunlop to Goodyear (the parent company) in line with the BTCC.[ citation needed ]
For 2022, Motorsport UK granted permission for Britcar to run their Endurance Championship with the title "British" and to increase the race duration from 1-hour to 2- and 3- hour, with the aim of running even longer races in the future. A new website and new social media channels were launched to support this change. Praga split off from Endurance to have grids of their own, run under the Britcar/BARC umbrella while the Trophy Championship continued unchanged.
For 2025, the Britcar organisation merged the Trophy and British Endurance championships into a single grid, running 8 rounds of two 45-minute or single 90-minute races.
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. [6]
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
Harry William Tincknell is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Dempsey-Proton Racing. He won the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut in 2014 and again in LMGTE Pro in 2020, the first driver in the race's history to win in both LMP2 and LMGTE Pro. Other notable victories include the 2016 European Le Mans Series title and the overall win at the 2020 12 Hours of Sebring.
Strakka Racing was a British auto racing team founded by Nick Leventis. The team was based at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire. The team made history at the 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring when they became the first team in Le Mans Series history to win overall in an LMP2 class car. They also became the first team in LMS history to take overall pole position in an LMP2 class car.
The 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship was the inaugural running of the World Endurance Championship. It was co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series replaced the former Intercontinental Le Mans Cup held by the ACO from 2010 to 2011. The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-based racing cars meeting four ACO categories. Several championships, cups, and trophies were awarded in the series' four categories following an eight race season, with a World Championship available to the top scoring drivers and LMP1 category manufacturer.
The 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the second season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars meeting four ACO categories. World Championships were awarded to drivers and to LMP1 category manufacturers, and several World Cups and Endurance Trophies were awarded for the series' other categories. The eight race championship began in April at the Silverstone Circuit and ended in November at the Bahrain International Circuit. The season was marred by the death of Allan Simonsen in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Lotus T128 is a Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) designed by former Sauber technical director James Key and built by Advanced Design and Engineering Systems Solutions (ADESS) and Kodewa. It was used by Kodewa in the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship under the name Lotus. Stéphane Chosse, the founder of ADESS, first proposed building a Le Mans prototype car in March 2011. The vehicle's construction began in February 2013, eleven months after Kodewa acquired two chassis. The T128's aerodynamic study was carried out using a computer-aided software mesh tool from Altair Engineering, and aerodynamics was the main priority in its design, with Chosse taking a similar approach as when he was involved in Formula One. It uses a naturally aspirated V8 engine from the BMW S65, which is also used in the company's M3 model, and produces around 450 horsepower (340 kW).
The 2013 6 Hours of Silverstone was an auto racing event held at the Silverstone Circuit, near Silverstone, England on 12–14 April 2013. The event was the opening round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season, and served as the annual award for the Royal Automobile Club's Tourist Trophy. Briton Allan McNish, Dane Tom Kristensen, and Frenchman Loïc Duval won the race for Audi, just over three seconds ahead of their teammates. The British Delta-ADR team were victorious in the LMP2 category, while Aston Martin Racing secured both the LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am classes.
The 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the third season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars from four ACO categories. World Championship titles were awarded for Le Mans Prototypes drivers and for LMP1 manufacturers, and several World Endurance Cups and Endurance Trophies were also awarded. The eight race series began in April at the Silverstone Circuit and concluded in November at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
The Rapier 6 was a sports prototype racing car built by LM3000 in 1999. It used a 3-litre Nissan V6 engine, and Team Sovereign ran the car in the FIA Sportscar Championship. The car achieved moderate success, and Team Sovereign retired it at the end of the 2003 season, after the series folded. In 2011, it reappeared in the Britcar series, being driven by Mike Millard.
The Rebellion R-One is a sports prototype racing car built by French constructor Oreca on behalf of Swiss-based team Rebellion Racing. It is designed to meet the 2014 LMP1-L regulations for Le Mans Prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and replaces the Lola B12/60 chassis. The first two R-Ones debuted at the 2014 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The Rebellion R-One shares the same monocoque as the Oreca 05, and the Oreca 07.
The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fourth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars meeting four ACO categories. World championship titles were awarded for Le Mans Prototypes drivers and for manufacturers in the LMP1 category, and several World Endurance Cups and Endurance Trophies were also awarded in all four categories. The season began at the Silverstone Circuit in April and ended at the Bahrain International Circuit in November after eight rounds, and included the 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 2015 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, formally the WEC 6 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps, was a six-hour endurance sports car racing event held for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars on 2 May at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium. Spa-Francorchamps hosted the second race of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship with 54,000 people attending the race weekend.
Jota Sport is a British sports car racing team. Founded as Team Jota by Sam Hignett and John Stack, Jota Sport is part of the Jota Group which is owned by Sam Hignett and David Clark. The team is based in Tunbridge Wells in England. Jota Sport has finished on the overall podium of 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with two Oreca in an alliance with Jackie Chan DC Racing. In 2018/2019 Jota competed, in partnership with Arden International, RP Motorsport, Jackie Chan DC Racing and Aston Martin in the FIA World Endurance Championship with two ORECA 07 LMP2 and in the GT World Challenge Europe with Mclaren 720S GT3 cars.
The 2016 WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, formally the WEC 6 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps, was a six-hour endurance sports car racing event held for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium on 5–7 May 2016. Spa-Francorchamps served as the second race of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship, and was the fifth running of the event as part of the championship. A total of 56,000 people attended the race.
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Philip Beauchamp Hanson is a British racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Ferrari AF Corse, and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with JDC–Miller MotorSports.
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Ross Wylie is a Scottish racing driver. He started his motor racing career contesting the 2004 Mini Max Kart Championship, becoming a multiple kart champion in his native Scotland over the next eight years, before moving up to car racing in 2012.
Autoracing Club Bratislava, also known as ARC Bratislava, is an auto racing team based in Slovakia. The team is led by Miro Konôpka, who has been driving for the team since its inception. ARC Bratislava are currently known for competing in the Asian Le Mans Series and also the FIA World Endurance Championship, where they lasted for two seasons in the LMP2 Pro-Am class, joining the series in 2021. The team has competed in various FIA, ACO or SRO-sanctioned championships throughout its existence, using various prototypes or GT cars.
The 2020 Britcar Endurance Championship was a motor racing championship for GT cars, touring cars and sportscars held across England. The championship's field consists of varying types of cars from sportscar to GT and touring cars that compete in four classes, depending on horsepower, momentum, etc. It was the 19th season of a Britcar championship, the 9th run as the Britcar Endurance Championship, and the 5th run as the Dunlop Britcar Endurance Championship. It was the first Dunlop Endurance Championship run without Class 5 and below, after the formation of the Britcar Trophy Championship. The season began on 11 July at Croft Circuit and ended on 1 November at Snetterton Circuit. There was also a non-championship round at the Spa-Francorchamps in support of the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship, where Endurance category competitors will participate in two races with the Trophy Category cars.
The 2020 Dunlop Trophy Championship was a motor racing championship for production cars held across England. The Trophy championship was created specifically for production vehicles as a Britcar championship separate from the much faster GT and Touring Cars of the Endurance Championship. It is the 19th season of a Britcar championship and the 1st Britcar Trophy Championship season.