MOTOR SPORT: NATIONAL champion race team Tech 9 Motorsport completed their own Operation Desert Storm to gain their best-ever international finish of third in the Bahrain Festival.
They overcame a potentially disastrous start to exceed even their own expectations by climbing the podium despite competition from star teams from all over the world.
The Hale Village outfit have won the British GT title for two years running but pulled out all the stops.
The event consisted of three heats and a one-hour two-driver final with Tech 9 entering two Porsches in both the GT2 and GT3 classes.
But the meeting could so easily have been over for the Halton team almost before it had begun.
'We encountered our fair share of problems,' admitted Tech 9 Motor-sport boss Phil Hindley.
'A fuel-pump failure stopped us dead in our tracks during race one and although another six GT3RS models had entered the race, not a single team had a spare.
'The situation looked bleak and it looked like we could have been out for the rest of the festival.
'UK freight companies could not get the parts over until it was too late but a courier rushed the parts to Heathrow where a friend duly stepped on to a plane with the part and arrived just in time for race three.
'We missed race two and had to start from the back of the grid for race three.
'But driver Rob Croydon commendably fought his way back through to fifth position - an incredible drive.'
The festival brought together an exceptional grid of almost 50 teams.
The line-up for only the second international event at the Bahrain circuit, set in the middle of a desert, included Porsche, Ferrari 550 Maranello, Chrysler Viper GTR-S, Lamborghini Diablo GTR, Holden Monaro, Lotus Sport, Elise and Morgan Aero 8.
The meeting started well for Croydon and Adam Sharpe with their GT2 clocking the fastest speed-trap figures with a stunning 175mph and the engine logging an incredible 8760rpm in sixth-gear.
The festival also brought the GT debut of Tech 9's Phil Keen, who is making the step-up from TVR Tuscans.
He rose magnificently to the challenge and a race-three win in GT3 class set up a perfect finale although a spin by team-mate Dominic Lesniewski relegated the duo to sixth place.
However, all the hard work was justly rewarded with a superb final-heat performance from Croydon and Sharpe in the GT3RS which sealed third place in class and 11th overall - despite a bump from behind by a French GT3RS.
'For us, the trip to Bahrain represented a step-up in terms of class and machinery,' added Hindley.
'Having been successful in the UK with our GT3-class machines, it was time to race at the highest level in GT2 and we have proven ourselves in this most competitive environment.
'This has been a fantastic end to the season.'
