Tarporley racing driver Tom Oliphant claimed a stunning podium finish at Donington Park in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.
The West Surrey Racing driver clinched his podium behind the wheel of his BMW 330i M Series with a scintillating performance for his first piece of BTCC silverware.
Setting a best time of 1:10.773, Oliphant ended qualifying in ninth and was on course to improve further before the final stoppage put pay to his efforts.
From fifth row of the grid for the first race, Oliphant made a flying start and scythed his way through the field.
Demoting Chris Smiley to fifth after pulling off a superlative move at the final chicane, Oliphant’s progress continued on the next lap as he then moved up into fourth.
With a second safety car neutralising the race, Oliphant was soon into third after Sam Tordoff made a mistake heading into the final corner.
Holding station for the remaining laps, Oliphant crossed the line to score his maiden BTCC podium in third, joining team-mate Colin Turkington on the rostrum.
He endured a frustrating second race as he ended out of the points after contact with another driver to finish 17th, but again served up a strong display in the final race to finish 13th.
Oliphant said: “I’m over the moon to come away with my first podium in the BTCC!
“Credit has to go to everyone at West Surrey Racing and BMW as they’ve given me a brilliant car all weekend, and they deserve that result just as much as me – it’s a dream come true.
“After qualifying I had my sights set on the top five in race one and then potentially a podium in race two.
“As soon as the race was underway however the car felt strong and I was able to make overtake after overtake.
“It was a shame to get bumped down the order in race two but we made some good progress on the hard tyre in race three, and we can take all of the data going forward.
“Overall it has been a mega weekend and I’ve driven the best I have ever done in the BTCC. We’ve learnt a lot and we go to Thruxton confident of scoring more solid points.”
Oliphant is 12th in the BTCC Drivers’ Championship whilst BMW sit third in the Manufacturer/Constructor standings.
The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship continues on May 18/19 at Thruxton.
(Images courtesy of Jakob Ebrey Photography)
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