Oliphant is Super pleased with his 11th-placed finish at Silverstone

Tom Oliphant in action at Silverstone. Picture: Porsche AG/Hoch Zwei

Oliphant returned to the grid eager to build on a hugely promising outing at the Circuit de Catalunya earlier this year when he secured a pair of top-ten finishes.

The Leamington racer tacked the meeting in a different second-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to the one he used in Barcelona and, despite his lack of familiarity with the new machinery, qualified a competitive 14th, just two tenths of a second outside the top six.

In front of a large TV audience, with live coverage on both Eurosport and Sky Sports F1, Oliphant got boxed in at the start and lost ground. However, a brilliant fightback saw the 26-year-old avoid some opening-lap incidents in the chaotic midfield to emerge in 12th.

After overtaking Daniele Di Amato at mid-distance he closed right on to the rear bumper of Porsche Carrera Cup GB teammate Charlie Eastwood to take the chequered flag in 11th position.

“I gave it everything in the race after a difficult first lap and I felt like I had a really good race car underneath me, so thank you to Lechner Racing and my mechanic Alex for that,” said Oliphant. “If we’d have had another lap or two I’m confident I’d have got into the top ten, but I’m still pleased with the result we got.”