Rising motorsport talent Charlie Robertson claimed his second endurance racing trophy in as many events at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 26th April, with a class podium finish as part of the Team LNT Ginetta-Nissan LMP3 entry in the Dunlop 24 Hour Race.Returning to the scene of their historic class triumph in the opening round of the European Le Mans Series two weeks ago, Charlie and Sir Chris Hoy were joined in the Team LNT line-up by Ginetta Cars Chairman Lawrence Tomlinson, Ginetta factory driver Mike Simpson and Gaetan Paletou.As well as marking Charlie’s first ever twice-round-the-clock racing experience, the contest – making its return to the UK motorsport calendar for the first time in three years – delivered pretty much the full spectrum of challenges.In addition to providing the Whyteleafe 18-year-old with his first taste of night-racing, heavy rain threw another variable into the mix as did a variety of issues which the Team LNT mechanics overcame with sterling pit work – not least a late driveshaft change during the closing minutes. In the end, the No.12 Ginetta-Nissan was able to take the finish at 16.00 on Sunday second in class.“Just when you thought you’d seen it all something else happened – it was such an incredible race”, explained Charlie, “The car was amazing and I’m proud of the whole team, everyone did an amazing job and worked so hard. The whole weekend was a massive learning curve, it’s the first 24 hour race I’ve done and hopefully it can help further my career towards my goal of racing at Le Mans.”Starting the race from pole position at 16.00 on Saturday, 25th April, Team LNT having dominated qualifying, Investigo and Curo-backed racer Charlie took the opening stint and immediately roared into an incredible lead of almost half a minute before the Safety Car was deployed for the first time.After a successful first run, from which he pitted with a 45 second lead to hand the car over to Hoy, Charlie returned to the cockpit for his second run after 22.00 and immediately encountered new territory early in his endurance racing career – night driving and very heavy rainfall at the same time.In treacherous conditions, Charlie ensured he made no mistakes and safely handed the LMP3 car over to Paletou who subsequently handed the baton over to Simpson as an overall podium looked well within reach. During the early hours of the morning, though, contact with a GT4 car as Simpson headed to the pits resulted in a 45 minute delay as the team repaired the damage.Charlie returned to the cockpit after the stop but the extent of the earlier damage meant debris had built up on the exhaust, causing an electrical system issue and, ultimately, a small fire at the rear of the car. The net result meant a heart-in-mouth moment for Charlie when the throttle stuck open but, with great presence of mind, he parked the car in the gravel to avoid any further dramas.After the fire was extinguished, the car was taken back to the pits where Team LNT’s crew worked tirelessly for the next four hours to get the Ginetta-Nissan back into the race. Thereafter, each stint went smoothly but with 15 minutes to run there was one final drama when the car ground to a halt at Abbey after the driveshaft failed.Remarkably, after the LMP3 had been towed back to the pits, the mechanics replaced the driveshaft in just five minutes – a stunning feat of teamwork – meaning Hoy was able to rejoin the track and take the chequered flag second in class. Charlie, meanwhile, ended his first 24 hour race with the fastest lap overall – a time of 2m02.922 seconds (107.20mph average).“The car ran faultlessly to be honest, it was only after the small incident Mike [Simpson] had that we picked up some damage”, commented Charlie, “Racing at night for the first time was a challenge, the conditions then with the rain as well were very tough and vision was hard.“I couldn’t believe the job the guys in the pits did near the end to replace the driveshaft in about five minutes – I’ve never seen anything like that before, it was incredible! The atmosphere was amazing in the pitlane, everyone was applauding them and it really was great to see.”Next on Charlie’s schedule is round two of the European Le Mans Series on 16th/17th May at Imola in Italy.