The #144 RS Connect Seat Leon Cup Racer topped the Qualifying timesheets 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. The #303 Red Camel-Jordans.nl Seat missed the pole by 0.471 seconds in second place. Behind the two TCR-spec Seats, the #102 JR Motorsport BMW E90 M3 went into third place, but will start from Pole Position after the two leading Seats and the #130 Zest Racecar Engineering Seat fell foul of the mandatory ride height checks post session 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 #203 Vortex 10.2 BMW silhouette car, now equipped with a 3.5 litre Renault-Nissan V6 engine, stopped on track in the session’s closing stages and the #246 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, the qualifying efforts of the one team that hjas previously won a Silverstone 24 Hour race then starts from the back.
The one hour session was interrupted by a Code 60 period and a red flag suspension as the #168 AREA/Owens Endurance Honda Civic 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 #71 Cor Euser Racing BMW M3 was the 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 saw the Barwell Motorsport crewed #154 JJ Motorsport in the hands of Richard Abra into 17th position overall with a margin of five places ahead of their only class rivals, the #235 DUWO Racing car.
Jacob Kristensen drove the #171 Team K-Rejser Peugeot RCZ into the A2 class pole with 24th spot overall.
Two places further down, the #194 Belgian RECY RACING TEAM BMW 120D was quickest in the D1 class for Diesel cars.
The race will get underway on Saturday at 16:00 hrs. Motors TV will be broadcasting live on Saturday from 15:30 hrs till Sunday 16:30 hrs and a live stream in HD quality is also available on the series’ website at www.24hseries.com with the full Radiolemans.com commentary team again be on site for live commentary including the DSC Editor.
