British driver Harry Tincknell was full of praise after he and his Jota Sport team-mates secured their first win of the European Le Mans Series season in Austria.
The 23 year old piloted the #38 Gibson 015S Nissan to victory alongside Simon Dolan and Filipe Albuquerque.
Tincknell was tasked with completing the final leg of the four hour race, after pole-sitter Filipe Albuquerque had manufactured a big lead that was then consolidated by Dolan. Despite emerging from the pit-lane behind the then-championship leading Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca with 20 minutes to go, Tincknell quickly inherited the lead of the race after Tristan Gommendy was called back for a pit-lane violation.
“I’m really, really happy with our performance in Austria,” said Tincknell. “Achieving pole-position at the Red Bull Ring for a second consecutive year was great but I come to expect that now with what Jota Sport gives us drivers in the form of the Gibson-Nissan.”
“Filipe drove a perfect opening stint at the start but kept having his lead eroded by the Safety Cars. In my opinion, Simon drove his best ever race which meant that I was right in the hunt when I took over to the chequered flag.”
Tincknell’s own stint near the end of the race was also peppered with safety car interventions, including a late one caused by the spinning Murphy Prototypes Oreca. Nevertheless, Tincknell was able to maintain the gap to the Thiriet entry and seal a commanding victory for the British squad, with a margin of 28 seconds to the car behind.
“Safety Cars disrupted my own stints but I just got my head down each time and pulled away and thankfully it was enough,” he added. “It was a stunning effort by all of the team as always. Pole, win, fastest lap and championship lead – job done!”
The victory places Jota Sport at the head of the European Le Mans Series standings by two points, ahead of Thiriet by TDS Racing, while fellow Gibson customer team Greaves Motorsport sits a further eight points behind. Tincknell’s next race appearance will be with the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO squad in the FIA World Endurance Championship, which makes its first visit to Germany on August 30.
