SILVER End race ace Toby Bearne finished his opening weekend in the Britcar Endurance Championship with a storming drive that placed him and co-driver Daniel Wylie on the podium.

With help from new title sponsor, Robert Hayward the CEO of Witham-based company TEXO Scaffolding and Construction, Bearne is racing a Ginetta 55 GT4 in this year's championship.

The first two races of the season took place at Silverstone on the international circuit and there were differing fortunes for Bearne and Wylie in their TeamHard Ginetta car.

Qualifying for their first grid in the Edurance Championship went as well as could be expected, considering how different the Ginetta is to anything that Bearne has raced before.

The 50-minute first race did not unfold as the Essex duo were hoping, though, as a fuel issue meant they had to pit stop twice and with only one pit stop planned to change over drivers, Bearne and Wylie could only finish fifth in their class.

As the grid position for the longer 120-minute second race was decided on the first race result, they found ourselves way back in 17th position.

However, a great start from Bearne saw him show his class by gaining five places by the end of the first lap.

Then, following an incident on the track around 50 minutes into the race, by which time the Silver End racer had moved up to second in class, the safety car was deployed and they took the opportunity to pit for fuel.

It also saw Bearne hand over the car to Wylie, who completed a long session working very hard to hold on to their second place at the chequered flag.

The duo were pleased with their podium finish and thanked Tony Gilham and the team at Team-HARD as well as their families and friends for their support.

The next two races in the Britcar Endurance Championships will be held at Snetterton on May 6.

If anyone is interested in advertising a company or business on the car, then contact Ronnie on 07446 116759.