"What a Day, What a Race , What a Result"

Holme took the first stint of the four hour race and was part of a seven-car battle for fourth place until he handed to Hoad. “I was third and then seventh, so much overtaking, by the time I pitted I felt like I was on steroids,” he said.

 

They were in fourth place after the first hour, but Hoad had got them into second by the time the second pitstop window opened.

 

Holme was back in and had terrific duel with Racelogic’s David Denyer, swapping and changing for second place. “At first we raced each other, then we started to work together and closed on the leader,” Holme explained.

 

Second after two hours still Hoad kept the pressure on for a podium place and had been alternating for the lead with PLR’s Neil Plimmer, before handing to Holme again for his final stint of the race.

 

It was close for the top six, but Holme kept his nose to the fore as the battles behind continued to rage. His lead was partly lost due to a safety car intervention, but having handed to Hoad for the final stint, only 0.889 secs covered the top six.

 

The final 24 laps had the crew on the edge of their seats, after Hoad and Racelogic’s Julian Thomas managed to get a break on the rest. As Holme and Denyer had before, it was constant exchanges all around the circuit, often more than one in a lap.

 

Hoad was ahead over the line for the last five laps, but Thomas remained a threat until the chequered flag, but Hoad was the winner, with just 0.09s secs to spare.

 

“A real team effort, the strategy, Jonny and the crew were all brilliant and I am exhausted,” Holme concluded.