For many saloon racing fans (and sports cars fans in the early years), the Willhire 24 hour race held at Snetterton from 1980 to 1994 was one of the highlights of the calendar. The Spa and Nurburgring 24 hour races may have enjoyed a more prestigious standing in the tin-top world, but “The Willhire”, as it was known, always attracted some of the cream of British talent.
The 1986 event was held in glorious summer sunshine, and featured some well known saloon car specialists, such as John Cleland, James Kaye, and Patrick Watts, and even rally drivers, Russell Brookes joining Cleland and Kaye in the works dealer team supported Vauxhall Astra. The eventual winners were TV presenter Mike Smith, partnered by Lionel Abbot in the Ilford supported Ford Escort.
The pit action gallery is well worth viewing, and includes photos of the Winford Mercedes being manhandled after falling off the jacks in the middle of the night, plus some of the cars up on bricks behind the pits that had been hurriedly cannibalised for spares during the endurance event.
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You can also view the whole gallery full-screen here.
Copyright © 2010 by Brendan McFarlane, all right reserved. If you wish to use any of these images on a motorsport community website, a watermarked version can be made available, please notify me first.
