TINCKNELL RECORDS THIRD ELMS CAREER WIN AFTER DOMINANT VICTORY ON 'HOME SOIL'

Harry Tincknell has taken an early lead in this year's European Le Mans Series after the Briton won the 4 Hours of Silverstone today (16 Apr). Tincknell plus co-drivers Simon Dolan and Giedo van der Garde (NL) steered their G-Drive Racing Gibson 015S-Nissan LMP2 class sports car to a dominant 95secs victory in the championship's opening race.

The victory earned Tincknell his third ELMS career win his eighth top-three ELMS podium from 11 starts after switching to the sports car category in the corresponding race in 2014. Harry's last win at Silverstone had been in an FIA Formula 3 European Championship race in April 2013.

The Tincknell/Dolan/van der Garde Gibson lined-up on the second row of the grid after Harry had set the fourth fastest time around a wet but drying 3.667-mile Grand Prix circuit in qualifying earlier in the day with Tincknell duly starting the race.

Tincknell, who had claimed a pole-position plus second place and the fastest race lap in the corresponding 2014 and '15 Silverstone races respectively, had built up a 27 seconds lead before pitting after 51mins for fuel. Harry resumed still leading and handed over the Gibson to Dolan with 90mins gone with a 20secs lead while Van der Garde drove the final 42mins to the chequered flag.

Tincknell/Dolan/van der Garde will start the second round of the six-race series at Imola, Italy, on 15 May with a seven-point advantage.

Harry says: "A comfortable victory is a great way to start the season so I'm absolutely delighted. The start was tricky on the damp track which caught a few cars out. I took the lead at Brooklands and managed to pull away. I tried to manage the tyres the best I could with the aim of giving Simon [Dolan] the car with a healthy lead which worked out perfectly. Simon did a first class job while Guido finished the job off in style. Apart from the start and considering the large grid, it was a clean race. Roll on Imola is all I can say!"