FRESH off his British Touring Car victory, Sam Tordoff was back in action at the weekend with JMW Motorsport at the third round of the European Le Mans Championship, held at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

At the wheel of the Ferrari 458, Tordoff took on qualifying duties for the team, which sees him drive alongside fellow Brits Rob Smith and George Richardson.

The Alpine backdrop of the Red Bull Ring made for a spectacular setting for the Yorkshireman’s qualifying attack in the ultra-competitive LM GTE class.

Tordoff was one of six drivers to top the timing sheets as the battle for pole played out. The team eventually took fifth on the grid, with little more than a second covering the whole field.

Race day saw Smith start the four-hour race for JMW Motorsport, making quick work of getting to the head of the field and setting up a hard-fought first stint.

He handed over to Tordoff who kept that momentum going for his stint, also taking the lead at one point.

However, the race was starting to become littered with safety car periods, none of which benefited the team and meaning it was truly pedal to the metal all the way.

As Tordoff came in to handover to Richardson that pedal was just a fraction too hot! The stewards clocked the car a mere 1.8mph over the pit lane speed limit costing JMW a stop and go penalty later in the race.

Richardson put in a solid stint, matching his team-mates by taking the lead at one point before handing over to Tordoff to bring the car home in the final 40 minutes.

With more safety car disruption and the penalty to observe, the team dropped to sixth position but this didn’t stop Tordoff bagging some stunning lap times to ensure the opposition know to watch out in races to come.

Tordoff said he was "gutted" afterwards but insisted “we march onwards”

Tordoff head to Snetterton for the next rounds of the British Touring Car Championship on August 9. He currently lies fourth in the drivers' standings with two race victories already to his credit.