HEREFORD motor racing team Saxon Motorsport took an emphatic win in the Barcelona 24 hour race.

Run on the Cataluyna Formula One Circuit, the race is part of the FIA International 24 Hour series of endurance races for saloon and GT cars.

The Saxon Motorsport built race car is a highly modified BMW 135D GTR developing about 400bhp and capable of speeds of over 160mph.

The class structure for the race was changed during qualifying and the Saxon team were amalgamated into a higher class with more highly powered petrol cars.

However by the second hour of the race they were leading the class, a lead they maintained for the rest of the 24 hours to finish over an hour ahead of their nearest rival.

This was the fourth 24 hour race of the season for the Saxon team having previously finished second and third.

Having been hampered by a crash and damage to the car caused by debris on the circuit in the past, their latest race was virtually problem free, with the car covering 609 laps of the 4.65 kilometre circuit at an average speed of 134.5kph.

Chief engineer Jon Taylor said he was delighted with the result.

"Our car has been great all year but in previous events matters beyond our control have kept us off the top step of the podium," he said.

The drivers were team owner Nick Barrow, together with his son Tom Barrow, who are both from Hereford, Dave Robinson, from High Wycombe, and Jamie Morrow, from Miami, USA. The team have now started preparing for the next long distance race, the Dubai 24 hour race in January 2016.