TANDY’S LOLA TOPS NEW MASTERS

Bought after finishing second in the 2012 American Le Mans Series, the ex-dyson Racing Lola B12/60 was a double winner in the new Masters Endurance Legends contest, in the hands of Steve Tandy.

“We’ve really started to get motoring,” he said after a difficult start to the season. “I’m feeling more at home in the car and it just ran perfectly all weekend.”

Exceeding track limits robbed Michael Lyons of pole and that allowed Tandy to steal a march into Abbey. Lyons also had to overcome a 50-second penalty for his ‘elite’ driver status and so, in a bid to pass to pull out a lead, he ran his ORECA 03 deep into Brooklands and ended up on the grass. But half a lap later, he wasn’t going to make the same mistake and swept by Tandy under braking for

Village to take the lead.

Despite Lyons’s best efforts, the penalty proved too much and Tandy (above) led home the Gulf-liveried Lola-aston Martin of Christophe d’ansembourg and Martin Short’s Dallara SP1.

In the second race, Tandy started fifth but was hampered with gear-selection issues. That left nine-time Le Mans entrant Herve Regout, swapping for d’ansembourg, as Tandy’s biggest threat.

The Aston’s V12 power told as he passed on the Wellington Straight. But trying to compensate for excessive understeer through The Loop, Regout mistakenly hit the pit limiter and allowed Tandy through for a 0.6s win.

James Cottingham’s Ferrari 550 and the Aston Martin DBR9 of Nick Leventis (below) shared GT class honours.