Torrential rain affected the 6-hour event on Saturday afternoon, the atrocious conditions catching Tom out on the very first lap

The 1000kms race ended with the Zytek LMP car finishing in 11th place overall, 5th in class after a torrid race that saw a lot of the laps having to be completed behind the safety car in conditions that few people could remember ever being worse.

It started badly for Tom when an ambitious move to take second place on the opening lap resulted in him spinning on to the grass. He recovered only to be involved in a collision on the pits straight on the very next lap, forcing a lengthy pit stop for repairs;

“ That was an awful first lap. I was following the Creation car and felt they were being over cautious. I was wrong. I went for the inside on the approach to Vale corner and hit deeper water, couldn’t slow down enough and had to turn in going too quickly. I spun off but kept the car running and rejoined straight away. Then on the pit straight I found myself heading into a wall of spray, could not see a thing. Suddenly there was a car going really slowly and even though I had time to hit the brake, nothing happened. I just locked up straight away and slid into the back of the slower car. That damaged the front wing and I had to pit to fix it. “

In had been a case of ‘in at the deep end’ quite literally for Tom who had virtually no experience of racing the Zytek in those conditions and hadn’t even driven an open top racing car in heavy rain before the start. He didn’t expect the visibility to be so non-existent. The team’s decision to start the race with Tom driving was made when the weather had yet to deteriorate and things at the time were cloudy but not raining. Once a driver is nominated to start the race, a team can’t change the decision within a certain time limit so Tom had to take the start even though his team-mate, Hayanari Shimoda had experience of the soaking wet conditions and he didn’t.

“ I was a little nervous at the start. I didn’t know what to expect, especially the visibility problems. I did a few laps when the pit lane opened before the start. The car felt really good, I was confident with how I should drive with the track the way it was. At the start The Pescarolo got away well and I could see they were pulling away. I felt the Creation was holding me up; I could have gone quicker, I thought, and try to stay with the leader, the Pescarolo. I should have followed for a lap though and seen where it was safe to get past. I was just a bit too keen and paid the price. “

A good result looked an ambitious target for the team now, a situation not helped by the rain getting even heavier and the seemingly endless use of the safety car. Many drivers were caught out including the leading three cars who all spun at some stage. Eventual second place finisher Nic Minnassian in the Creation even spun whilst running behind the safety car – conditions really were that bad.

Tom drove the final stint which lasted until 10.00pm, taking the 1000kms race up to its maximum permitted duration – the full six hours. This time his driving was more like the Tom we know. Quick and mistake free, he pulled the team back up from 25th overall and 7th in class to take the chequered flag in the dark in 11th place overall, 5th in the LMP1 class.

The smile had returned to Tom’s face by the end with his performance over the closing stages;

“ That was better. I started cautiously in that stint, just making sure I didn’t make any mistakes again. I got more confident quite quickly and was happy with my pace, but the most important thing was to not make mistakes and get more experience of driving a sportscar in these conditions. Racing in the dark as well, probably for the last hour, that was completely new to me and I found it ok. Overall I’m pleased to have got back to doing what I should be doing, getting my confidence back straight away. I made up quite a few places by the end. Obviously that wasn’t the result we came here for and I feel very bad for the team. This has taught me a lot of lessons.”