Aston Martin V12 Vantage GTE

Abra and Poole’s entry into the top class of Britcar was a late one, having only received the new car last month.Starting from pole Richard Abra immediately pulled away from the Mosler of Javier Morcillo, whilst behind this pair the positions of the rest of the pack rose and fell as tyres responded in differing ways to the desperately cold conditions. After the first round of pit stops, a short, sharp shower of freezing rain caught out the leaders, on lap 69 Mark Poole took avoiding action to miss Cintrano’s spinning Mosler, both being caught out by the slippery track, Poole’s Aston and Cintrano’s Mosler ended up in the Redgate gravel. When the Aston returned to the track, Poole and Abra were 8 laps down on the leading car. By the end of the third hour they had worked their way up to field to P8 and 5 laps adrift of the leading Ferrari. Pushing on in the darkness by the end of the race Poole and Abra missed the final step of the podium by a mere 35 seconds.