Congratulations to Darren Turner who yesterday won the GT1 class for the second year running in the world-famous Le Mans 24 Hours sports car race in France.

Turner, who races for SEAT in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship, partnered former BTCC driver David Brabham and Spain’s Antonio Garcia in the number 009 Gulf Aston Martin DBR9 for the round-the-clock endurance classic.

After a tough battle with the rival Chevrolet team, Turner turned in a mesmerising performance during the crucial night hours with a mammoth quadruple stint that enabled him to eke out a lead in his class. In hazardously wet and dry conditions, he then successfully negotiated the penultimate stint before handing over to Brabham who brought home the car less than a lap ahead of the field, so close was the competition from Chevrolet.

The victory, in front of close to 300,000 spectators, added to Turner’s class win in 2007 and resulted in massive applause and cheers from the huge travelling British contingent among the crowd.

Turner, currently eighth in the BTCC standings, said: “Lots of people say that winning is easier the second time round, but I’m not sure that’s true. Every victory is tough but this one was something else. The fact that we managed to achieve it against such strong opposition is a huge tribute to the entire team. Conditions were far from easy, but thanks to a great car and a great team we were able to do it.”

Turner returns to BTCC duties when the championship resumes for the second half of its 2008 season at Snetterton, Norfolk on Sunday 13 July.