A double podium for EMAX at the 2CV 24 Hours of Snetterton

The Snetterton 24 Hours (21st - 23rd August) was our third 24 hour race of the year, and one of the team’s favourites on the calendar: a fun and friendly race around the Snetterton 200 circuit.

21 cars took to the tarmac, primarily 2CVs but now joined by a mix of C1 Endurance and City Car Cup cars.

EMAX ran two cars. Car 463, a C1 Endurance car, was driven by Ted Reddick, Rob Chalmers, Matt Rice, James Taylor and Simon Michlmayr. Car 14, a City Car Cup car running in its own class, was driven by Simon Gardener, Max Finn, Ash ‘Naughty Bear’ Carter, Pete Spano and Glen Finn.

Friday’s night qualifying went well for the team, with Max taking P1 and James P4.

Saturday’s day qualifying was always going to be interesting, starting damp before the rain soon got much heavier. Max posted a time 10 seconds faster than anyone else, but as the track dried the gap began to come down. Towards the end of the session the team felt it was better to focus on preparing for the race, and car 14 finished qualifying P3 with car 463 P4.

For Saturday’s practice session we ran just a few sighting laps to scrub the tyres. The risk of running any further was too high, so the cars came back to the pits to be prepped for the race. Shortly afterwards another team rolled their car, confirming it was the right call.

The C1s started from a secondary grid, with car 14 in P3 and car 463 in P4.

Simon Gardener started quickly in car 14, working his way through the pack and building a one lap gap over P2 shortly into the first stint. Car 463 was also performing well with Matt at the wheel, and after 6 hours both cars were in the top 5 overall.

Even with Pete and Simon Gardener new to the team, car 14 was consistently the fastest car on track. During the night, under the safety car, Glen noticed a noisy bearing and took the decision to pit to investigate. A rear bearing was changed, and car 14 dropped a lap, now running P2 and battling to get back onto the lead lap.

Meanwhile car 463 stayed consistent, saving tyres and fuel and lapping fast but safe.

Simon took over car 14 again and was quick throughout his stint, until it was cut short by an unexpected return to the pits with low fuel. Investigation revealed a small puncture in the fuel tank: the exhaust had come loose and rubbed a hole through the side of the tank. The tank was repaired and the car sent back out, but 30 minutes had been lost in the pits.

That dropped car 14 behind 463 with a large gap to make up, and the car battled hard to claw back the lost laps. After another stop to repair the exhaust, Simon handed over to Max for one last push for 2nd place overall. Unfortunately he ran out of time, finishing P3 just 30 seconds behind car 463, whose tidy and consistent race earned them P2 overall.

It was an excellent effort from everyone and a great weekend for EMAX. The drivers and crew were brilliant, and racing with the 2CV Racing Club is an absolute privilege as ever. We will be back next year!

The results were as follows for the team:

463 - P2 Overall (P2 in Class)

14 - P3 Overall (P1 in Class)