Just seen this on next years calender http://britcar24hr.co.uk/cms/news.php?item.1370.1

Anybody know what sort of cars are eligible

I just thought this being the Britcar forum some people might know a bit about it and could maybe let others know at the same time

This was mentioned in Autosport the week before the 24. Basically aimed at GT4 cars that currently don't have a place within the Britcar classes, with mention of finding a use for all the GT academy Nissans.

It's running with the Production Cup so the calendar is the same but they've got their own standalone round at Thruxton on the 21 July and then on the following week there is a standalone round for GT which is yet to be confirmed.

It a semi sprint format, two 40 minute races, quite interesting. Looking forward to seeing the class requirements for this.

We are still ironing out the details at the moment, unfortunately sometimes things get 'mentioned' before the package is ready to be officially released.

The basic idea is 40min races with a mandatory pitstop. It'll be for production based 2 or 2+2 seater cars running relatively standard wrt power outputs and balancing the grid with weight to give 2 classes.

The top class will be for things like 3.4 and 3.6 Porsche 996/7 (not GT3), Nissan 370/350, BMW Z4, S2 Elise etc. The bottom class will be for things like Honda S2000, Mazda MX5 Mk3, Toyota MR2, Toyota GT86, Subaru BRZ.

We will discourage much in the way of engine modifications to increase power and torque beyond manufacturer (or existing single make championship) specs (unless it is deemed suitable to balance performance across a class) to keep it as relatively cheap and accessible as possible.

Draft regs should be out for discussion/comments/suggestions within the next couple of weeks along with our regular Championships.

No Brands next year?

I've been racing for three years, all of which have been done with Ma5da in the Mk1s. I was intending to switch to the Mk3s for 2013 but it seems to me like a lot of the Mk3 guys are leaving Ma5da next year, so I'm looking at alternatives and Britcar seems like a good, albeit bit more expensive, option. I've got a couple of questions though:

1. Is the Production Sportscar Series replacing the Production Cup? It looks like the eligible cars are similar?
2. The Mk3s seem to be the regular back-markers at Britcar for obvious reasons and I've seen a few comments on here about the MX5s not being proper racing cars. Am I going to get laughed at if I go down the Mk3 route?!
3. I've also got a 10 year old Boxster S, which I've owned from new but hardly use now. It's probably slightly too good for a donor car but it's marginal. I've never had anything go wrong with it, have done a few track days in it but slightly curious as to why there aren't more Boxsters doing Britcar. To be frank having got drenched last year most weekends in an open-top, I wouldn't mind doing something this year with a lid on it and was thinking it would suit this new series - or would it?


Thanks

Revised regs are available HERE following feedback.

Tyres are Dunlop but you can run slicks/Wets or Direzzas, if there is sufficient of each tyre type we will look at a pitstop time balance to even it up, though for most of these cars a set of slicks is cheaper and will last longer as well as being faster, for example a Nissan 370Z or 996 Porsche you are looking at upto twice the price for Direzzas as you are for slicks.

There are now 3 classes based on laptime splits of currently competing cars with weight tweaks to balance them against class competitors.

A standard Ma5da spec Mk3 MX5 would be spot on for Class 3 in Production Sportscars.

To run in Production Cup it is worth spending money on development as the standard Ma5da spec cars are a bit behind at the moment, relative to the rest of the Production Cup cars. Its all doable but it depends on how much you want to spend. And as I'm sure you are aware, Endurance racing isn't necessarily about outright speed, one of the MX5's in our championship could well get a Championship Class Podium following our last race at BH in a couple of weeks time. You certainly wouldn't be laughed at as we are all a friendly bunch at Britcar as are the competitors who race with us.

A BRSCC or Porsche Club Boxster would be bang on the pace in Class 1 of Production Sportscars as well and as Drew runs alot of our race meetings I'm sure he will try to avoid too many clashes with the BRSCC Porsche Championship to give those cars somewhere else to race.

Entry fees for the Production Cup and Production Sportscars will be about £665 an event next year. With 30min qual and 2 x 45min races that works out as £5.54 a minute which you should find is very competitive if not cheaper than most. Remember as well that for Production Sportscars you won't need any expensive refueling kit or extra personnel, it is designed to be as cost effective as possible.

I can't think of many years as wet as this last one, however bare in mind that in a closed car you can have the opposite problem. I am sure I ended up with heatstroke after racing at Silverstone last year in the heat of the britcar weekend. My 944 S2 was like an oven the last race in the afternoon heat left me feeling really off, like to sick to move from the heat and I didn't feel right for a good few days afterwards. Boxster I believe would be better though as the 944/968 is notorious for heat soak.

The guys that take their heater out to save weight can also find it uncomfortable racing in the rain for reasons of 'vision'. I have seen a few guys frantically wiping the screen whilst weaving along the straights, funny from trackside but must be terrifying for the driver.