24hr race - easy to get excited about but the reality of the challenge soon sets when you get to the track and grasp how much preparation is required to not only get the car to do its job but for the team to go the distance non-stop. Imagine starting your car up now and pounding around a track at full-tilt until the same time tomorrow and the million things that can break, wear out and fail during such a long period of 8000rpms in every gear - for 24hrs straight.

We'll, thats what happened at Silverstone last weekend as my dream of driving in a 24hr race was lived out to the minute. Ive raced in endurance events before, the longest being 6 hours and thats a challenge in itself with just 2 drivers so to get a call from Mitsubishi to pilot their brand new and yet to be finished Evo X race car for its first event and for 24hrs was an opportunity I welcomed.

 

For a 24hr event each driver needs to qualify in both the daytime and nighttime to ensure he/she gets to grips with the track conditions as per the race. Mitsubishi had decided that they would contest the event with just days to go as the build of the brand new car neared completion to a point where they had a chance to get it finished in time.As it turned out, the car was actually finished at the track and in the pits with 1 of the 2 hours remaining in qualifying. As the last nuts and bolts were tightened by the team, my team mate and ex BTCC racer James Kaye was being put in the car in readiness to venture out into the darkness. James headed out and completed the mandatory 3 laps, pitting to hand the car over to me to do my 3 laps.

At this point I should note that I was rushed into the car, having never sat in it, the steering wheel and pedals setup for James / small people :D and me being 6ft2 it wasn't the most comfortable experience! As well as that, to make things better I was in a car that had just been built, no track time under its belt and I had to venture to the pitch black track for the first time on a track layout ( the GP Circuit at Silverstone - they have 3 layouts there and I have driven the other 2 ) with no idea what corners were coming at me. Couple all that with the other 50 cars of varying specs running around at full speed and you get a glimpse into the nature of my thoughts at that point.

Having completed a lap I opened the throttle down the straight to see a flicker of blue smoke wailing from the back of the car, I crept it back around to the pits whereby the engine momentarily caught fire as the custom oil feed pipe to the turbo had failed and was leaking onto the exhaust. The car needed to pit and be worked on, giving us time to consult with the team about the car, the things to be ironed out before the race, the main one being how to fit 4 different sized drivers in the same seat and ergonomics.

 

As day fell the next morning, the turbo was fixed and the car was finished off in detail in preparation for the start of the race. James Kaye was to lead the car out onto the first stint behind the wheel as as the train of 51 cars came around to the start finish straight the leading car, a Mosler, nailed its throttle and immediately went into a spin with 50 other cars following it they had no choice but to dart to each side of the track to avoid hitting it. as the middle of the pack reached the spun Mosler which was now in the middle of the track, a TVR quickly avoided the Mosler but found itself on the grass and quickly into the concrete wall, the impact sent it back across the track and smashed itself into the wall on the inside of the track. In doing so the TVR was also T boned by a Ginetta. The driver, Andy Neate, was knocked out by the first impact and suffered life threatening injuries, breaking his neck in various places. The driver is still in hospital. The huge debris and nature of the crash meant the safety car was deployed and for over an hour the marshalls dealt with the accident and cleaned up the track giving James more seat time to drive the car and push out wrinkles without being at race-pace.

 

The race restarted and James quickly moved up the order from 51 place ( as we didn't get a full qualifying lap in the day before ) to the low 30's position. After 2 hours in the car James pitted and I jumped in the car. As I did James gave me the run down on the car and how it was running with a comment that there was a ghastly smell of fuel vapours inside the car. At this point the team couldn't find any obvious problems with the fuel system so they shut the door and off I went. I went out and slowly started to wind up my pace to get into a grove which was keeping reliability in mind.

With endurance racing the key is to finish the race and to limit the time spent in the pits or refuelling therefore pit stop strategy and how long the tank of fuel lasts or how well the car uses tyres become paramount factors with lap times less important as they would be in a short race. After finishing my first stint in the car I pulled in to refuel it and hand it over to Jay Wheals for his stint. At that point I was glad to get out for fresh air as the petrol fumes had given me a huge headache to deal with, masked by the adrenaline of racing I started feeling unwell. Jay went out and started pushing the car hard, recording a record lap time for it in the process. Jay also radioed in complaining of the fumes at which point he handed it back to James to head out. Before James went back out the team discovered a faulty fuel valve was the culprit behind the vapours and quickly fixed it. As the day turned to night I once again got back into the car feeling a little light headed still.

Seeing Silverstone going from daylight into nighttime whilst on the track is an experience I will remember, it was the turning point for the race and what started to make it special with the prospect of racing through the night now becoming reality. About 30 minutes after it got dark I started to feel dreadful. My head was pounding and I was starting to have cold sweats with a feeling of sickness. I continued to battle on believing it would go away as I didn't want to pit the car and throw off our strategy but it started to become unbearable. I radioed in to say I needed to pit early as I didn't feel well and the team scrambled to get a driver ready for me. They asked me to stay out for another couple of laps and then refuel the car in the refuelling area before heading back for a driver change. Those 2 laps seemed to last a lifetime. By this time I was feeling sick and wanted to be but I was holding on just trying to pound-out the laps and get back as quick as I could.

Just before pulling in a DC2 Honda Integra which I was about to overtake managed to blow his engine up in spectacular fashion in front of me and with the Evo's air system on full blast I soon had a cabin full of DC2 engine oil vapours which proved too much for my stomach to handle. Pulling into the fuel lane 10 seconds later I couldn't believe I had been sick. The thought of this happening in a brand new works car on its first outing rushed through my mind, needing to radio the team and tell them they needed to clean the car up as I headed around to the pits wasn't the best position to be in. I pulled in and Jay was standing ready to jump in the car, seeing me crawl out he hesitated as he saw the state of me and the car.

A few minutes later all was well with the car and Jay headed out. The team said that Jay was also feeling unwell from the earlier fumes but he went out regardless. About 30 minutes into his stint he returned to the pits and jumped out to be sick. Things were not good. James jumped in the car and continued to pound around for a further 3 hours whilst me and jay tried to recover by having a lay down and tried to sleep it off. James then passed the car over to our forth driver, all round ex BTCC ace Mark Lemmer. Mark battled lap after lap keeping the Evo in contention but the increase in pit stops and extra refuelling meant we were losing time no matter how much we made up on track.

Around this time I woke up to find James getting ready to go back out as jay was still unwell but I found that I felt much better than earlier but still not my best. I donned my race suit and gear and rushed back to the pit to find the car pulling in and Mark Lemmer jumping out. I headed out and started to pound around the circuit at a steady pace. lap after lap the car continued to perform faultlessly but by 1 hour in, I started to feel uneasy again. I continued to lap the car at a steady pace until it was due a fuel stop at which point I once again asked the team to find another driver to take over. I as I headed in Jay was waiting to go out and I immediately headed back to the motorhome to get my head down to try to feel better. We were in bad shape, James had done most of the driving, me and Jay were ill and Mark was filling in where he could as he was also driving his own car a couple of pits down from us.

By this time we were around 20 place overall but still 5 in our class with not much hope of catching up due to our unscheduled pit stops and our fuel tank taking ages to fill up at each fuel stop - 5 minutes instead of 1.5 minutes due to a small fuel pipe arrangement in the system. I later awoke to find a shattered James who had been battling the car all night with Mark whilst we slept to find a glorious morning and a head that felt much better than when I went to bed. I got my gear on and jumped back into the car for my final stint. I was once again alive and alert, lapping the car in a quicker groove than the night before and feeling much more comfortable doing so. At this point the track was very dirty.

Over the course of racing the endless rubber deposits from tyres build up on unused parts of the track, known as marbles, which means that sticking to the racing line becomes extremely important as if you collect these marbles on the Tyre's you suddenly loose grip as well as encountering huge vibration through the car as the marbles stick to the tyres and wheels. So sticking to the line was easy enough, thats our job but add in 35 other cars, most of which of GT pace and constantly attempting to get around you, wanting to also stay on that racing line suddenly makes it a thinking mans game. Equally nearing the end of the race the last thing you want to do is make a stupid mistake or get into a tustle with a car on track when the goal now becomes a target to finish the 24hrs you started with. In places the marbles are unavoidable as there are literally hundreds of tyres worth of shavings all over the track being flicked around by the passing cars or those tired and losing concentration and running wide or early at the corners.

Thankfully I felt good, the car was running great and we were gaining on the 4th place car which had been in its pits with a broken exhaust for some time. After a long stint I returned to the pits to hand the car over to Jay for his final stint and the pace continued and exceeded my own with Jay coming into the pits an hour and half later to hand over to James to finish the final 2 hours and take the chequered flag.

Apart from a minor crash and a safety car period James flew across the line 24hrs after he started and recorded the first finish for the Evo X in a 24hr race and the first finish of the brand new car for Mitsubishi UK. As he passed the line th entire team including myself clambered the pit lane wall to congratulate the achievement of bringing it home.

 

The moments after the race finished were quite emotional for everyone within the team, with lots of hand shaking and congratulating going on, reaping the massive achievement of building a brand new car that had not turned a wheel prior the race and to take it out for 24hr solid and bring it home in one piece was quite unique. It was a mammoth task and eventual achievement that I was very proud to be part of considering it was the first time in over 20 years Mitsubishi had set about racing on the circuit, likewise the entire team felt over joyed at the achievement along with the staff of Mitsubishi.

 

I enjoyed every moment of the race, although I would have liked to been in a position to drive even more than I did due to the initial fumes from the car, we still managed to bring home a virtual trophy for the team and for that I am very pleased and thank Mitsubishi for the opportunity of driving their new baby, the team all their efforts, the drivers for taking up the slack when we needed it most and for Autoglym for standing by me and supporting me to be there in the first place. Thanks All!

- Andy Barns