Taking sixth place at the chequered flag fails to do justice to a strong showing from Tommy and Mike in Round 4 of the 2008 Le Mans Series at the Nürburgring in Germany. Having qualifying ninth on tyres that proved unsuited to the conditions – and having to start the race on the same rubber – Tommy drove a blistering triple stint that saw the MG rise through the LMP2 ranks to a peak of second.

It was an impressive performance from the Brazilian, who admitted later that the first fifty minutes on the softer compound had been “very tough”. This overlooks the fact that the team’s original plan had been to bring the car in ahead of schedule for an early pitstop and replace those tyres, but such had been his pace and competitiveness that Phil Barker, team manager at RML, elected to let him run the distance. “Tommy drove an absolute blinder and allowed us to maintain a regular pitstop schedule. That was very valuable to us,” he said.

After the pitstop, and fitted with fresh “medium” compound tyres, the MG was transformed. "It was like I'd climbed into a completely different car," said Tommy. "It was a revelation! I was able to settle down and really enjoy the drive, knowing that I had the car that was handling and performing perfectly." Such was his enthusiasm, and the evident improvement in pace, that he was offered a third successive stint. He took full advantage of the opportunity, and maintained a charge that lifted the car from that ninth place at the start all the way through to second in class. He completed two and three-quarter hours before handing over to Mike for the middle sector of the race.

After the pitstops had unravelled the CEO of AD Group found himself running fifth, but also right in the middle of heavy traffic. “I think I came into a series of maybe eight or nine laps when I didn’t have a single clear run,” said Mike. “I was either baulked by slower cars, or encountering yellow flags on every second or third corner. It was very frustrating!”. Within half an hour he also discovered that the engine was losing some of its edge. “It was definitely not as strong as it had been, and I could almost run the whole of the main straight without getting into sixth gear. That also made tackling the GT cars much more difficult.” It also made defending Tommy’s hard-won positions an almost insurmountable challenge, and Mike did well to hold on to sixth before handing back to Tommy for the final seventy-five minutes.

Rejoining in seventh, Tommy picked up one place and two whole laps on the next cars in the class during those final stages, and had closed to within striking distance of fifth before time ran out. He took the chequered flag in sixth place. “I’m pleased to have finished, but disappointed that we could only manage sixth today,” admitted Phil Barker. “We ran a clear race, without problems, and although the engine was a bit flat towards the end, we deserved better from a trouble-free run. Even so, three points will do nicely, but with two or three more laps, perhaps Tommy could have given us something better.”

Adam Wiseberg, Motorsport Director of AD Group, was particularly impressed with Tommy’s triple-stint. “That was a very strong drive through to second,” he said, “The car ran reliably, the crew was fantastic, and there were no mistakes or problems anywhere. The team deserved more of a reward than sixth, but as always this year, we face a very competitive class in LMP2 and it’s a credit to RML that the MG remains in contention after nearly five years of development.”

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