24 hours, 16 valves, 1837 miles, and one Mk3 GTI - The Britcar 24 2011

Photo copyright / courtesy of John Brooks

As human beings we all share at least one similarity: We dream. As car automotive enthusiasts, and more specifically motorsport anoraks, we've all likely shared the same little day dream: Take a modest budget, a group of friends, a cheap car and go giant-killing at a proper endurance race with something akin to David's sling-shot in a battle of the Goliaths - if you allow me to use that well-worn cliche.




Well some brave souls from the Club GTI forums did just that at the 2011 Britcar 24 Hour, entering a Mk3 GTI 16v to do battle with Porsches, Ferraris, turbo Seats, BMWs and every other manner of car you can imagine. Not only was the car just generally outclassed by the insanely expensive full-time GT cars, it was also very modestly modified.



When the clock had gone around twice and the dust had settled the little GTI was a stellar 13th overall and 4th in class. 

Photo copyright / courtesy John Brooks

Some pistons, headwork, a programmable ignition system and a few other bits gave about 200hp, while the brakes were just standard, with good pads. Similarly the suspension saw the addition of some high-spec coilovers, while the rest was merely upgraded a bit over stock. And this going against proper GT race cars...





Perhaps most amazingly the transmission, which is of the ancient and much-maligned 020 variety rather than a more stout cable-shift box, was quite literally box-stock. No shims, no diff, not a single thing was altered. It says a lot about the general durability of the VW GTI, but perhaps even more to the ability of the drivers to be mechanically sympathetic and make it all last.



The car, which was prepared by the Carvell family and run and piloted with the help of fellow VW enthusiasts and volunteers, was naturally prepared to a very high standard to have lasted a full 24 hours, but the main components were quite modest in origin.



The team estimates around a $7500USD total investment in the car. That wouldn't even buy a bumper on half the cars in the field.



There is an excellent write-up and a ton more pics on Chris's thread over at the Club GTI forums - which is just about the best VW and Audi motorsport resource out there - and I recommend checking it out.



Many thanks to Chris Eyre for the info, pictures and the link to the thread.

Special thanks to John Brooks and DoubleDeClutch.com for the use of his images where noted.

_WRS