Duncan’s first British GT race of the season saw him overcome a sizeable weight handicap and a compromised qualifying session to power his car to a top-10 position – only for a technical failure to send it tumbling back down the field.

Duncan (right) and Gregoire Demoustier

However his racing partner Gregoire Demoustier then repeated the feat to take the duo to a top-10 finish.

The weekend’s visit to Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire was the first-ever for Gregoire and the Von Ryan Racing team. It was also Duncan’s first British GT race of the season.

And the race was an eventful one. British GT rules state that driver pairings must consist of a gold and a bronze-rated driver. However Duncan and Greg are classed as gold and silver drivers respectively.

This meant they must drive with 75kg of ballast on board. As a result the car’s single-lap performance was heavily compromised and they could only manage to qualify in 19th position.

Duncan in action at Rockingham

However Duncan’s opening stint in the car was a stormer, featuring numerous overtakes that allowed him to battle forward to seventh place.

Following his hard work the car suffered an ABS failure, leaving the brakes ineffective for several laps and forcing him back down to 17th place. Fortunately a quick-thinking decision to disable the ABS altogether allowed him to keep racing.

A pit-lane reset at the driver change-over saw the ABS partially restored and an excellent run from Greg then took the car back up to ninth place at the chequered flag.

Duncan watches as his Von Ryan Racing McLaren gets some attention.

Speaking after the race, Duncan said he was pleased to bring home a very encouraging result given the weight handicap and the brake issues.

He said: “I’d like to say thanks and well done to Von Ryan Racing and Greg Demoustier for all the hard work during this very encouraging first weekend.

“We achieved a lot achieved despite a few technical issues, and we have a lot of work ahead, but there are also plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future.”

Photos: Gary Parravani / www.xynamic.com

•   Filed under: British GT
•   Tagged as: Gregoire Demoustier, Rockingham, Von Ryan Racing