ONE of the final race meetings of the season at Brands Hatch will see a packed grid of saloons and sports cars reflecting the excitement of the Le Mans 24 Hours by racing into the night.

The European Endurance Racing Club's Britcar series will qualify as the light starts to fade at around 3.50pm on Saturday, November 20, before embarking, headlights blazing, on a 100-minute endurance race as night falls. The race, which will also feature Le Mans-style driver changes and refuelling, starts at 4.50pm.

The Britcar event will feature an eclectic mix of exotic and powerful cars ranging from Porsche 996s and Ferraris to Vauxhall Cavaliers, Renault Clios and Volvo S60s.

Among the leading entries will be former multiple British Touring Car champion Andy Rouse, who will share an ex-Jorg van Ommen DTM Mercedes 190E with his son Julian.

Another ex-touring car star, David Leslie, will also be racing, sharing a BMW E36 M3 with Harry Handkammer. Other cars to look out for will be the Ferrari 360 shared by David Back and ex-British GT champion Calum Lockie, the Ferrari 355 of Witt Gamski and father and daughter pairing Rick and Jo Kraemer in their Ford Focus.

A Mini Cooper S fitted with a BMW M3 engine, called Super Mini, will also be taking in the night race, driven by Mini racing veteran Bill Sollis and GT racer Neil Cunningham.

Before the night race gets underway, the meeting will feature races for the EERC's Britsports category, which gets two 45-minute outings, GoldArts Caterhams and the British Automobile Racing Club's saloon car series.

Qualifying starts at 9am, with the first of six races at 10.25am. Tickets cost £10 per adult, with children aged 15 and under free.