White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR by Scalextric/MTR32

The 2003 GT winner was back with the same ambition to take a second victory. The car was a 2004 Porsche GT3 RSR and the line-up were three works Porsche drivers - Sascha Maassen, Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, a Le Mans debutant. The White Lightning Porsche was the only 911 fitted with a sequential gearbox. The White Lightning Porsche which won the GT class in 2003, confirmed its position as favourite with a lap in 4m 05.979secs by Bergmeister back in April practice. Maassen drove the teams fastest lap - 4m 07.394 - in practice in June and took pole in the GT class and 29th overall.

In the race Maassen, Bergmeister and Long con- firmed their prerace position as favourite in the GT class but the Freisinger no. 85 and the Seikel no. 83 were not far behind. The White Lightning Porsche managed to build up a small but comfort lead between itself and the pursuers. The very fast pace of the leading Porsches dashed the comeback hopes of the JMB Ferrari Modena. The GT positions were turned upside down when Bergmeister drove into the pit at 02h24. The mechanics busied themselves changing the pads

but the real reason for the stop was a gearbox problem. Repairs took 23 minutes and the White Lightning Porsche lost its lead to the Freisinger no. 85. But the White Lightning no. 90 fought back - with a little help from the other teams problems - and crossed the finish line at 16h00 as winners of the GT class adn it was the team's and Maassen's second consecutive victory. They were 10th overall and did 327 laps in 24 hours - only 52 laps behind the overall winner.

Hour by hour: Start - 29th 1h - 25th 2h - 21st 3h - 16th 4h - 15th 5h - 15th 6h - 12th 7h - 12th 8h - 13th 9h - 13th 10h - 13th 11h - 19th 12h - 18th 13h - 15th 14h - 19th 15h - 18th 16h - 17th 17h - 14th 18h - 14th 19h - 14th 20h - 14th 21h - 13th 22h - 12th 23h - 11th 24h - 10th