David Brabham took victory in Race One at Brands Hatch, the first of the Dunlop Endurance Championship run by Britcar ‘Into The Night’ double-header on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, the #5 Brabham BT62 Brabham he shared with Will Powell finishing 11.572 seconds ahead of the #98 Simon Green Motorsport Ferrari F488 Challenge driven by solo driver Lucky Khera.
Completing the overall podium positions was the #18 Moss Motorsport BMW 1M E82 driven by Ollie Hancock and Mike Moss, Moss taking the second stint.
The 60-minute race got underway in cold and wet conditions, Will Powell leading the field away from pole position in the #5 Brabham BT62.
There was drama in the opening seconds as Paul Bailey spun the #28 SB Racing Engineering Ferrari F488 Challenge at Graham Hill Bend.
Powell set the early pace with a 55.566 on his second lap, over a second quicker than #18 Moss Motorsport BMW 1M E82. Tim Gray, at the wheel of the #84 VR Motorsport Praga R1T held on to third position, over four seconds behind Hancock after five laps.
The Safety Car was called on for the first time with 52 minutes remaining after the #95 Maximum Motorsport Seat Cupra TCR went off at Clearways, Nick Halstead at the wheel. The Safety Car allowed the solo drivers to call into the pits for their compulsory stop, Tim Gray in the #84 Praga being pushed back into the garage.
Racing resumed with 46 minutes remaining, Matt Powell again leading the field with Ollie Hancock a little over half a second behind. Hancock was pushing and was looking for an opportunity to pass for the lead during the opening lap after the restart.
Chris Murphy, driving the #72 Whitebridge Motorsport BMW Z3, was served with a drive-through penalty, for an infringement under the Safety Car. Murphy did not hear the penalty and continued
By the 19th lap, Hancock had Powell in his sights and took the lead at Druids. Released from behind the #5 Brabham, Hancock immediately set about pulling out a gap and by lap 22 was over five seconds ahead of Powell.
Matt Powell came in to hand over to David Brabham after 22 laps, the team founder leaving the pits in fifth place.
The race-leading #18 BMW stayed out until the 31st lap before Hancock stopped to hand over to Mike Moss. Lucky Khera took over the lead, the driver of the #98 Ferrari F488 Challenge having not yet taken his compulsory stop.
David Brabham passed Mike Moss for second place after 38 laps, lapping nearly three seconds a lap quicker than the #18 BMW.
Khera stopped with 16 minutes remaining and rejoined in third place, David Brabham taking over the lead.
As the race entered its final ten minutes, Brabham led Mike Moss by over 16 seconds with Lucky Khera in third position. Khera had not given up on second place, however, and had closed to just over three seconds behind the #18 BMW.
Khera saw his opportunity on the final lap to pass Moss for second, Mike Moss spinning shortly afterwards to rejoin in third.
Race Two of the Britcar ‘Into The Night’ double-header gets underway at 16.25 on Sunday November 10.
