Ben Tuck stormed from last to snatch a place on the podium in a fine outing at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps racing circuit in Belgium.
In an uncanny repeat of his last outing in Spa 2015, the 20-year-old proved his credentials by staging a stunning charge through the field at the iconic Formula 1 circuit after a near catastrophic crash.
In a weekend of mixed weather and mixed fortunes, Ben recovered from a devastating accident in race one before leading and then taking an incredible second place finish in race two.
Amid the changeable weather at the beautiful track set in the hilly Ardennes forest, Ben’s team, PT Sports Cars, had prepared his #62 Caterham Supersport to perfection and Ben qualified on the third row of the grid for the first race of the afternoon.
At lights out Ben got away cleanly, however the inevitable collisions occurred at the first corner with cars heading into the hairpin resulting in near stationary cars on the track when Ben arrived.
The resulting impact caused massive damage and resulted in Ben having to retire the car.
His pit crew swung into action and worked into the night to rebuild the battered car and by Sunday morning, it was fully operational and ready to go once more.
As Ben lined up in 23rd and last place, his perspective was all too familiar. In 2015 he had started a Mazda MX-5 race at Spa in 36th position at the back of the grid after a non-finish in race one.
The race ended with Ben claiming fifth and taking the unofficial Mazda MX-5 Spa-Francorchamps lap record.
Here, Ben put in a mesmerising performance, carving his way through the field, reaching the leading pack just two laps later.
Six more laps saw him take the lead of the race triggering a fierce battle amongst the leading five for the honours, but after a confusing final few minutes when the officials showed the last lap board one lap early Ben eventually crossed the line in second place, having taken the Spa Caterham Supersport lap record.
“I’m so happy to take that result to thank the team and my race engineer and mechanics for the huge amount of effort what went into rebuilding the car,” said Ben.
Ben returns to the UK for his next race outing as he competes at Brands Hatch on June 3-4.
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