Hancock stars on LMP1 debut.

Sam Hancock produced a stunning display in difficult conditions as he made his debut in the LMP1 class of the Le Mans Endurance Series during the season finale in Istanbul.

Hancock, who claimed the LMP2 title last season, joined up with Gregor Fisken and local driver Jason Tahinci in the Team JOTA Zytek and emerged as one of the stars of the race during the early stages as rain played its part in shaping the Turkish race.

Given the job of starting the race, Hancock started out at a steady pace to look after his wet weather tyres and it proved to be a crucial tactic as the rain intensified and others fell foul of the weather. While they struggled, Hancock was able to set a blistering pace and was soon able to pick off his rivals as he moved past Tom Chilton in the factory Zytek and Stephane Ortelli in the Team ORECA Audi R8 to hold a podium place.

Hancock soon reeled in Jean-Christophe Boullion in the Pescarolo to take second place and had taken almost a minute out of the lead held by the Creation Autosportif DBA-Judd of Nicolas Minassian when he was forced to pit for the end of his stint.

"Hancock is an absolute star," team boss Sam Hignett said. "In atrocious conditions, he passed some of the world's best including the works Zytek, the Audi and the Pescarolo. For most of his second stint his times were two to four seconds per lap faster than anybody else and by the time he got out the car we'd gone from seventh to second overall."

After Hancock's storming drive, Fisken and Tahinci both drove solidly to keep the Zytek on the track as conditions worsened to bring the car home to fifth place after another eventful race for the team.

"Despite the weather it's been brilliant to be in an LMP1 car, especially at this circuit which really encourages you to push," Hancock said afterwards. "We struggled a little for pace in the dry qualifying session thanks to a 'porpoising' issue which forced us to bleed off downforce, but it wasn't a problem in the wet so thankfully I could just get on and do my job in the race.

"I'd like to give a huge thanks to JCB and Gregor Fisken for creating this opportunity - and of course to Team JOTA who have been seriously impressive all weekend and turned out an exceptional car. Hopefully people have now had a chance to see what I can do at this level, which might help as I start looking at opportunities for next year."