Banbury GT racer Jamie Derbyshire was left frustrated by a lack of grip and pace from his Saleen GT1 car in the opening round of the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone.

The Spirit Motor Group-backed driver had been hoping for a solid start to the season in the top class of the series. However, a problem with the handling of the car caused himself and his team-mates to struggle over the entire weekend, crossing the line in 12th place overall after the end of the three-hour race.

He said: "It has certainly been a frustrating and challenging weekend. We know that the car has a lot of potential and the testing that we have done has shown that.

"We had a couple of problems at the start of the weekend and it stopped us getting the set-up right on the car and were unable to compete against the front-runners.

"It's one of the biggest championships in the world and the teams and drivers we're up against are first class, so being caught out like we were meant it was always going to be a tough weekend. The team worked really hard on the car and has a number of things to do before we go to the next round though, so I'm hopeful that we can be where we want to be next time out."

Out in front, Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels claimed the historic Tourist Trophy for the Vitaphone Racing Team. A clever strategy saw their Maserati MC 12 triumph ahead of the Zakspeed Saleen S7 and the Aston Martin Racing BMS Aston Martin DBR9, making three different makes on the podium, and the top five cars on the same lap after three hours of racing.