Willhire 24 Hour: Difference between revisions

The '''Willhire 24 Hour''' was an [[endurance racing (motorsport)|endurance race]] for [[production car]]s held at [[Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit]] in [[Norfolk]], [[England]] between 1980 and 1994. Over the years, the race included both [[sports car]]s and [[sedan (car)|saloon cars]]. Latterly, it was contested by competitors running in the [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile|FIA]] [[Group N]] specification National Saloon Car Cup. The race was run by the [[British Racing and Sports Car Club]] (BRSCC),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.motorracing-archive.com/sub_page.cfm/editID/266|title=BRSCC year-by-year|publisher=National Motor Racing Archive|accessdate=6 March 2008}}</ref> which was also responsible for the aforementioned series.<ref name=showroom>{{cite book

The race was sponsored by Willhire Vehicles Rentals (now Anglian Willhire, part of [[Northgate plc|Northgate]]), a local [[car rental]] company, after its owner Roger Williams was approached to sponsor a motor racing event at the circuit. Williams talked about sponsoring a 6- or 24-hour event, initially as a joke, but the offer was accepted and the United Kingdom's first 24-hour race was founded.<ref name=MRA>{{cite web|url=http://www.motorracing-archive.com/sub_page.cfm/editID/886|title=The Willhire 24 Hour|publisher=National Motor Racing Archive|accessdate=2 March 2008}}</ref> The race was first held in 1980.<ref name=MRA/> The 1989 event was 25 hours long to mark the 25th anniversary of the Willhire company.<ref>{{cite news|title=Top field for 25-hour race|publisher=''The Times''|date=1989-06-17}}</ref> The final event was held in 1994.<ref name="2CV">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2003/05/23/emn2cv23.xml|title=Round-the-clock racing|publisher=''Daily Telegraph''|date=2003-05-24|accessdate=2 March 2008}}</ref>

The Willhire 24 Hour was won by a number of drivers who went on to have success in other forms of racing. The first two races saw a mix of Singleton entries, typically with three or four drivers, and teams of three cars racing in relay, with up to six drivers. Purists will concentrate on the single-car entries and the Commander's Cup was up for grabs by the single-car entry that could break the distance record over the 24 hours. Morgan Plus 8's dominated. 1980: Stapleton Motors (Stapleton/Wykeham/Down/Spero) 904 laps, 5th overall. 1981: Allied Rubber Products (Stechman/Ridley/Harrison/Duret) 955 laps, 4th overall.{{cn|date=May 2015}} In 1986, the winning car was co-driven by then [[BBC Radio 1]] [[disc jockey]] [[Mike Smith (television presenter)|Mike Smith]] and [[Lionel Abbott]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Detroit could see a charge from the non-turbo cars|author=John Blunsden|publisher=''The Times''|date=1987-06-20}}</ref> who became the first two-driver team to win the race. The full list of winners is given below.<ref name=MRA/><ref name=Results>{{cite web|url=http://www.britcar24hr.co.uk/cms/e107_plugins/content/files/Previous_Winners.pdf|title=Silverstone Britcar 24hr previous winners|publisher=Britcar|accessdate=18 January 2010}}</ref> Other notable drivers who competed in the past other than those listed below include [[Martin Brundle]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.motorracing-archive.com/Motor-Racing/Drivers/Brundle-Martin|title=Brundle, Martin|publisher=National Motor Racing Archive|accessdate=18 January 2010}}</ref> [[Steve Soper]], [[John Cleland (racing driver)|John Cleland]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monorep.co.uk/shared/vauxhall-dealer-motorsport.htm|title=Monorep and Motorsport|publisher=Monorep|accessdate=18 January 2010}}</ref> [[Kieth O'dor]], [[Tiff Needell]], [[James Thompson (racing driver)|James Thompson]] and [[Gerry Marshall]].

Snetterton's experience in hosting an 24 hour race was proven to be beneficial when subsequently, the track became a host of some [[British Touring Car Championship]] night races from 1999, and Willhire-sponsored endurance races in 2002, 2003 and 2004,<ref name=Results/> but full 24-hour racing did not return until 2003, when the [[2CV 24 Hour Race]] moved to Snetterton.<ref name="2CV"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.2cvracing.co.uk/2003/24hr/index.htm|title=Introduction: Snetterton 24-Hour 2CV Race 2003|publisher=2CV Racing Club|accessdate=2 March 2008}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> However, national 24 hour endurance racing would not return until the introduction of the [[Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour]] in 2005, taking place at [[Silverstone Circuit]]. The 2005 Britcar event is sometimes referred to as the Britcar Willhire 24 Hour Race.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thegrid.co.uk/Mickel%20Racing.htm|title=Double finish for MG-ZR duo at Donington|publisher=theGrid.co.uk|accessdate=6 March 2008 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080208052211/http://www.thegrid.co.uk/Mickel+Racing.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 8 February 2008}}</ref>