Sandy's Tuck savours the winning feeling

Ben Tuck and team-mates Christian Krognes and David Pittard celebrate their win

Sandy’s Ben Tuck secured his first win in the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS) and also his maiden GT3 victory after a memorable weekend.

Tuck stood on the top podium alongside Walkenhorst Motorsport GT3 drivers Christian Krognes and fellow Brit David Pittard after they won round six of the NLS Championship on the legendary Eiffel circuit.

The victory came after one of the most thrilling battles seen by the historic championship, in the second of two four-hour races in a single weekend.

Even though the weekend ended on a high on Sunday, the opening race on Saturday served up more misfortune for the trio as they dropped from second to fifth after the car suffered a puncture as they chased down the leader.

Sunday’s race provided a quick shot at redemption and the crew of the #34 BMW M6 GT3 did not waste time.

With qualifying duties falling to Krognes he produced a stunning lap to snatch a new qualifying lap record.

Starting in pole position, the Walkenhorst Pro crew had their best opportunity of converting this momentum into a victory.

Pittard took the opening stint with Tuck taking the second and driving away in the lead as he again stretched the advantage to build a buffer to offset a longer final stop.

It fell to Krognes to drive the final two stints and, after a thrilling battle, Krognes pounced with a lap to go to bring the car home for a stunning maiden victory for the crew.

For Tuck, a visit to the top step was long overdue.

He said: “I’ve had a class P2 and P3 and things like that, but I’ve never actually had a class win, so my first win at the Nürburgring is the overall win in GT3.

“It’s amazing to be honest; awesome.

“It’s the first time that me, David and Christian all together have had a really good race without any issues, so yeah, it was really well needed for sure.

“Everyone has made it so easy for me to perform, and to feel like I can perform and build my confidence. All the help received from the team and my team-mates has got me to this point.”

Tuck next races for Walkenhorst Motorsport in the BMW M6 GT3 in the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie on September 11.