TF SPORT SAVES GT TITLE CHALLENGE

Bentley in the hands of Callum Macleod was also caught in the trouble, and was written off as it hit the same barrier at almost 170mph after Macleod was unsighted.

While the Team Parker car was out for the weekend, TF Sport pulled off a swift repair of its Aston, with seven engineers and Adam working to get the car ready for qualifying less than six hours later. The car was completed with minutes to spare and Johnston and Adam qualified seventh and finished in that position in the race too to hold their points lead.

TF boss Tom Ferrier said: “Fortunately the Aston has a bolt-on bolt-off front chassis, so we removed everything from the chassis rails forward and mounted an entirely new subframe to which we could remount the engine, which fortunately escaped any major damage.

“We’re lucky the car went in head-first. It was a huge job to get it done before qualifying but the lads put in a shift.”

Adam said: “It looked bad when the car first got back to the pits. Without their work we’d have been out and that would have cost us the points lead.”

Macleod said he was fortunate to escape injury after his hit in the Bentley: “I was going straight, flat-out at around 170mph and then I was sideways when I hit the oil. I hit the barriers hard front and rear and stopped on the track just before the chicane. The car is already back with M-sport [in Cumbria] for evaluation. It was a massive hit so thankfully Bentley build these strong.”