Road racing
Ryan Hooker Britcar 24 race notes
4th In Class for Hooker In The Willhire 24Hours In a late hour deal, Ryan Hooker (Upminster) took part in the Willhire 24Hours race at Silverstone last weekend (9-11th September) in the ...
Published: Sep 14, 2005, 10:41 PM
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4th In Class for Hooker In The Willhire 24Hours
In a late hour deal, Ryan Hooker (Upminster) took part in the Willhire 24Hours race at Silverstone last weekend (9-11th September) in the #4 Ford Falcon sported by Adam Sharpe Motorsport. It was a weekend full of drama and excitement, on and off the track, as Ryan and his three co-drivers brought the Falcon home fourth in class.
Friday's qualifying sessions were heavily disrupted and the evening session subsequently abandoned as a torrential storm struck the famous circuit. As Ryan recalled during night qualifying soon looked more like a river than a race track as lightening lit up the sky!
Thankfully, Saturday morning saw drier conditions as the teams prepared for the 5pm start, and any rain that followed caused tricky conditions but couldn't dampen the excitement of the 55 teams competing in the first 24Hr race on British turf for many years.
Sadly a last minute problem meant Ryan started the race from the pitlane but it wasn't long before he was working his way through the field and towards the end of his hour and a half long stint he'd made up over 20 places. Handing over to the team's next driver, Clint Bardwell, Ryan was pleased to see the Falcon was proving good on fuel consumption and was impressed by the power it displayed on track. The third and fourth drivers, Robin Webster and Adrian Watt completed their stints and with the midnight hour approaching Ryan was back behind the wheel for his second stint. As Ryan described it, he had a "flyer" through the dark hours and found the #4 Falcon, which arrived from Australia just a month earlier, a very enjoyable drive.
A couple of hours kip refreshed Ryan ready for another stint that started around the 7:30am, though since his last outing the car had suffered an off and the recovery process had slightly twisted the chassis which mildly effected the drive but didn't hinder them coming home fourth in class as the chequered flag fell at 5pm on Sunday.
"The weather may have been unkind for much of the event" said Ryan afterwards, "but it didn't take away from a great event that I hope becomes a regular fixture on the British motorsport calendar. The Falcon was a very enjoyable drive and the engine seems particularly strong and promising for such endurance events. We lost a few hours racing with a steering belt problem but otherwise the car was remarkably trouble free from a technical viewpoint. It's certainly an interesting addition to the British scene."
Organising and staging a 24Hour event is a huge undertaking not lost on Ryan. "I'd like to extend my thanks to the organisers of the Willhire 24Hr and Silverstone for a very enjoyable event and a huge thank you to the marshals who had to operate in the most awful conditions. And many thanks to the Adam Sharpe Motorsport Team for giving me the opportunity and my personal sponsor Firesure for their continued support."
-rhr-
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