24H Series: RS Connect Seat quickest, but JR Motorsport BMW will start from Pole
The RS Connect Seat Leon Cup Racer (#144, Lea Hodson/Jacob Hodson/Adam Jones/Gavin Jones) topped the Qualifying for the Hankook 24H SILVERSTONE, the debut of Creventic's new Touring Car Endurance Series (TCES) powered by Hankook. Adam Jones set the quickest lap around the cold but dry British Grand Prix track in 2:16.295 minutes. The Red Camel-Jordans.nl Seat (#303, Bert de Huis/Ivo Breukers/Rik Breukers) missed the pole by 0.471 seconds in second place. Behind the two TCR-spec Seat, the JR Motorsport BMW E90 M3 (#102, Christoph Ulrich/Steven Liquorish/Bob Herber/Martin Lanting) went into third place, but will start from Pole Position. The two leading Seat and the Zest Racecar Engineering Seat (#130, Lucas Orrock/Andew Hack/Jon Cullom/Rob Cullom) hadn't respected the mandatory ride height and will be moved down to the end of their class on the grid, which will be positions 14 to 16 overall.
While one SP Touring car inherited the Pole Position, two other potentially quick SP Touring contenders struggled. The Vortex 10.2 BMW silhouette car (#203, Kurt Thiel/Jeremy Reymond/Cyril Calmon/Lionel Amrouche), now equipped with a 3.5 litre Renault-Nissan V6 engine, stopped on track at closing stages. The Team ABBA Rollcentre Racing BMW M3 V8 (#246, Richard Roberts/Charles Lamb/Martin Short/Richard Neary) didn't even set a time after the driveshaft had broken on the out lap. Furthermore, the one hour session was interrupted by a Code 60 period and a red flag suspension. The AREA/Owens Endurance Honda Civic (#168, Endaf Owens/Carl Swift/Rob Howard/Mark Harris) had to be towed out of a gravel bed.
Throughout the six classes, the drivers didn't only aim for pure times, but also for expanding their track knowledge. For many of the 41 teams, the 5.890 kilometres Silverstone track is unknown territory.
Behind the TCR and SP Touring cars, the Cor Euser Racing BMW M3 (#71, Del Bennett/Tom Webb/Craig Wilkins/Dom Bastien/Cor Euser) became quickest A3 car and ninth overall. Team owner Cor Euser himself had set the time.
The Cup 1 class for BMW M235i Racing Cup cars was finally led by JJ Motorsport (#154, Mark Poole/Richard Abra/Timur Sardarov/Mark Lemmer). Richard Abra put the BMW into 17th position overall with a margin of five places towards their only class rivals, the DUWO Racing car (#235, Adrian Watt/Chris Wilson/Philip Harris/Alexander W. Wetzlich/Jean-Marie Dumont).
Jacob Kristensen drove the Team K-Rejser Peugeot RCZ (#171, Jens Mølgaard/Thomas Sørensen/Jan Engelbrecht/Jacob Kristensen) into the A2 class lead with 24th spot overall.
Two places further down, the Belgian RECY RACING TEAM BMW 120D (#194, Jan de Vocht/Johan van Loo/Wim Meulders/Thomas Piessens/Erik Crabbe) was quickest in the D1 class for Diesel cars.
The race will get underway on Saturday at 16:00 hrs and will end on Sunday at 16:00 hrs. Motors TV will be broadcasting live on Saturday from 15:30 hrs till Sunday 16:30 hrs while there are also regular updates on Twitter (@24HSERIES) and Facebook (24H Series). A live stream in HD quality is also available on the series’ website at www.24hseries.com. The expert commentary team from Radiolemans.com will again be on site for live commentary. Further information about the Hankook 24H SILVERSTONE can be found at www.24hseries.com.
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