So with 7 company execs, (and the addition of some bloke that used to be good on a bike apparently😂), none other than “Sir Chris Hoy MBE”, Racing-Lines and Charity Alliance had 2 Teams of 4 drivers, 1 celebrity, and the aim of both cars finishing, and raising £20k for Charity.
Fri test day went fantastic, with the drivers happy with the cars set up, and the newer drivers feeling confident, and beginning to look towards a good race.
Qualifying saw car 368 qualify 31/61, and car 470 qualifying 52/61
Race Day
Unfortunately around an hour into the race, car 368 with Sir Chris Hoy as pilot, suffered a brake issue, that caused him to go off circuit and have a double roll over! Luckily Chris was fine, but he was gutted for his colleagues. When the car was brought back it had suffered a lot of damage, but the cage had survived, so the guys dived on the car, changing a windscreen, side window, wishbones suspension, driveshafts ect, and at the 55 min mark the car was back on its wheels, and sent back on track. Despite the best efforts from the mechanics, the car was now over an hr behind and 30+ laps adrift. The drivers fought hard for the next 10hrs or so,until a wheel failure brought the car back in the garage with suspension damage. Once again it was promptly fixed and returned to the race, only to be back in the garage for a third time with more suspension damage, with about 3 hrs to chequered flag.
The teams combined efforts resulted in the drivers nursing a poorly car to the flag, finishing an impressive 48/61. 👏🏁
Car 470, had a mix of experienced and novice drivers. They ran fantastic as a team, staying out of trouble, until around the 9th hour, when the fuel-pump said “no more thanks” to its 24 hr race, and let go, after a tow back from the recovery crew, the guys set to work diagnosing the problem. A new fuel pump later, and she was ready to go. With around 8hrs left, after a safety car restart shunt, 470 was back in the garage needing a new rear bumper, but was soon back on track.
With the usual battle scars and the odd spin or excursion, all 8 drivers brought both cars home to cross the finish line, with no penalties. 👍🏁🏁
We were super proud of all the drivers, who raised over their £20k target for their 3 nominated charities.
We want to end by thanking all our mechanical crew, who made sure that no matter what, both cars remained in the race. Retirement of either vehicle was never an option for them, they battled tiredness and pressure, to ensure the drivers could fulfill their aim of raising money by completing the 24hr race.
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