Fine third in Germany for Graham Nash Motorsport.

Small British team Graham Nash Motorsport claimed a fine third place finish in the GTS class of the Nurburgring 1000km race, ending the race in tenth place overall.

Gian Maria Gabbiani and Phil Bennett survived tricky weather conditions in the Le Mans Endurance series event to put the Saleen S7-R on the podium.

Former BTCC star Bennett made a solid start to the race as he helped establish the car as one of the class leaders, and a change of strategy as the weather worsened allowed the team to claim a podium place, only a lap behind the GTS class winning Ferrari F550 of the Larbre Competition team.

After two years difficult years in touring cars, Bennett was pleased to make the podium.

"I am so delighted with this result after two years of unbelievable struggle with the Petronas team in the BTCC," he said, "so this result proves a point.

"The team made some great calls with the tyre strategy, the Dunlop wets were fantastic and my team mate drove well in terrible conditions and we deserved to be on the podium having been genuinely quick in the wet.

"The LMES is the strongest sports car series and being third in GTS against some really big budget teams is incredible. It wasn't all plain sailing however. We had a problem with the gearshift selector right from the start that meant we had to lift off the throttle between shifting gears. Then 2 hours from the end an oil pressure sensor came on but fortunately it was a faulty switch!"

Co-driver Gabbiani was also delighted with the result.

"Tyres for us made a major part of our success today," he said. "The Dunlops were amazing in the wet weather and really helped our strategy.

"Phil drove 2 incredible stints. He is a super nice guy and we really worked well together. I hope to race with him again soon. The last three laps with Phil driving for third place were the longest laps of my career, watching on the pit wall and the Barron-Connor Ferrari was closing, but we made it! I am so happy".