Oliphant maintains place among Porsche top five

Tom Oliphant in Porsche Carrera Cup GB action at Silverstone. Picture: James Lipman/Porche

Leamington-based Tom Oliphant stormed to a pair of top-five finishes during an action-packed second meeting of the 2016 Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Silverstone.

The weekend saw Oliphant race in support of the FIA World Endurance Championship around the iconic Silverstone circuit and he made full use of the platform to once again showcase his pace and potential.

Oliphant had to use all of his skill across a weekend of changing weather, the worst of which saw the circuit bathed in snow on Saturday morning, leading to the cancellation of qualifying with fears over the levels of standing water on the track.

With the decision made to set the grid by championship position, the Redline Racing ace lined up fifth on the grid for the opening encounter later that afternoon, buoyed by showing top-six pace in both wet and dry conditions in Friday practice.

The snow and rain had ceased by the time the opening race came around, meaning Oliphant was able to race on slick tyres. Starting on the wet side of the track would prove to be his downfall, however, as when squeezed to the inside at the first corner he suffered an unfortunate spin.

That fired up the 25-year- old and from 17th at the end of lap one, he mounted a sensational comeback to move into the top eight within four laps before swiftly closing down an eight-second gap to the group ahead.

With two more positions gained on lap six, Oliphant held the outright fastest lap during the middle portion of the race as he began to pressure Lewis Plato in fifth, getting through with a slick move into Stowe on lap 11.