Taking a break from his usual Formula Ford duties before the festival, Dan competed in the Britcar 24HR in a Nicholas Mee Racing run Aston Martin V8 Vantage with team mates Karsten le Blanc, Sarah Bennett-Baggs and Ben de Zille Butler.
While the car was very different to his usual ride he took to it instantly, setting the pace within the team from the start. A damp and greasy weekend at Silverstone in the Ford earlier in the year paying dividends in terms of wet line experience.
After having only done 3 runs in the car Dan managed to qualify it 27th. The race started in the dry and it turned out that the first couple of hours would be the best of the weekend with torrential rain falling for the rest of the duration. Dan was third in the car, going out at around 8PM on slick tyres in drizzly conditions, with the car still running around 27th place. Finally the heavens opened and he came in for wets and fuel. Driving in the dark and rain was a totally new experience although one he obviously took to as he consistently set top 6 overall times during this night stint, taking the car up to an overall 10th place!
Over the night the fog came in and the field spent much of the time behind the safety car and by the time Dan's next stint came around the car was in 12th place. The weather was no better with rain still falling and the track becoming increasingly greasy and in these conditions Dan managed to take the car back up to 10th place. Unfortunately that was as good as it was going to get as the treacherous conditions caught out one of his team mates and the car ended up contacting the tyre barrier on the exit of copse. It was some time before the car was recovered and it had a reasonable amount of damage which the team set about rectifying. A lot of swearing, new radiator and several rolls of duct tape later it was back out, but now in 21st place.
By now it had become a matter of pride to take the finish, and the crew did a great job of keeping spirits up in the dying hours of the race. Finally Dan took the chequered flag in 22nd place to finish his first 24.
Comments:
"Honestly one of the greatest experiences of my life! I had no idea what to expect when I took up the offer and the team were brilliant and made it very easy for me to find my way. My team mates were very understanding of an endurance novice and helped a lot. Would have been brilliant to get the result but just finishing was an achievement, definitely be back next year!"