ENDURANCE RACING
This year’ s British Racing & Sports Car Club( BRSCC) 24-Hour Silverstone GP included a field of 42 lightly modified Citroen C1 racing cars, one of which was Langley and Team InSeine. The event covered almost 450 laps of the F1 circuit – the equivalent of more than eight Grand Prix distances – and saw every entrant cross the finish line.
Race-ready C1s cost around £ 5,000 and the entry fee is £ 4,800 – which can be split between drivers – so this can be a cost-effective way to go racing. For most, the attraction is the experience of being part of a team battling through the night to keep the car going to the finish.
Robin Welsh, Silverlake C1 Endurance Series co-ordinator for BRSCC, competed in his first 24-Hour C1 event, back in 2018, and continues to race today.“ Races like Le Mans are just not achievable for most people, so to be able to race a car for 24 hours with a group of friends for very little budget is fantastic.
“ You can have between three and six drivers, and you are allowed to do a maximum of three hours in any five-hour period. Anyone can do it. You could go and do your ARDS test, get your licence, and race the 24-Hour race the day after, with no previous experience. A lot of people actually do that, and that’ s half of the appeal.”
Some, however, are at the opposite end of the scale. David Drinkwater is an extremely experienced endurance racer who has competed in FIA 24-Hour GT races in Dubai, Portimao, Brno and Paul Ricard, the Nürburgring 24hrs and the Le Mans 24-Hour support races – yet he continues to join the C1 field every year.
“ As a driver and team experience, there is really no difference between C1s and the big stuff,” he says.“ There’ s the same lack of sleep, the same camaraderie, working all the way through, catching the odd cat nap now and again. It might be a little bit warmer in Dubai, even in January, but the ethos around it is all the same.”
In addition to the C1 race in May, the Classic 2CV 24-Hour event is at Snetterton, run by The British Automobile Racing Club( BARC) over the August Bank Holiday. That includes 2CV racers as well as classes for the more standard Classique UK and Euro Classique 2CVs, the heavily modified Euro Hybride 2CVs, and guest entries for classic Mini Grands and C1 cars.
There is also EnduroKA 24-Hours, which runs every two years, and the Fun Cup 24-hour. And for those who don’ t feel like going the full stretch, the Race of Remembrance, held in November at Anglesey in support of the Armed Forces, offers a‘ half-marathon’ 12-Hour race.
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Revolution- June 2025
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