Team Modena secured a podium finish for the first time in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Rockingham, although the season would end in disappointment for the Lamborghini team after Adam Jones and debutant Jason Templeman were forced out of race two.

The GT3 Gallardo had qualified on pole for the opening race and Templeman held the lead at the start before losing position to Alex Mortimer in the Team RPM Viper. Staying in close contention, he brought the car into the pits from second place on lap 21 less than a second behind the leader.

"The first stint went well," he said. "I opened a gap to the Viper but ran a little wide and he got past. I close right in on him and then it was time for my stop. The car felt good and was getting better and better as the race went on."

Once the pit-stops had all taken place Jones found himself in fifth place, but was soon charging back up the order, taking fourth by diving inside an Ascari at the Deene hairpin and sitting it out to take the position two corners later.

Jones closed on the third placed car and challenged into the banked Turn One, only to be forced wide and lose momentum, slipping to fifth again. Back into fourth before the end of the lap, Jones got alongside the third placed car going into the very long left-hander at the back of the circuit, and stayed alongside all through the corner to take the position into the Tarzan hairpin with ten laps to go.

In the final laps Jones had the Gallardo lapping rapidly and was closing on the second placed Porsche at a second a lap, finishing less than two seconds behind at the end, the driving duo recording the team's best British GT finish in just the fifth meeting for the Lamborghini.

"Jason did a great first stint," he said. "I went and got a feel for the car as we had changed it since qualifying and closed on the Viper. Like Jason I had a bit of a moment, I got off line going past the Viper, and had to start over again. It's a great result for the team, they have been working hard to get the car on the podium since it first turned a wheel and to get this far in such a short space of time is a great performance."

However things didn't go to plan for the team ahead of race two with a gearbox issue in the Sunday morning warm-up putting the car out of the final race of the season.

"We are very pleased with race one, it was great to see the guys on the podium," team principal Graham Schultz said. "The drivers did very well, we were just a bit slow on the pit stop but overall it was a great day. After the highs of Saturday we had a disappointing end to the weekend, but we had a problem with a gearbox bearing - which was caused by one of the driver's lack of familiarity with the car and subsequent blipping of the throttle on downshifts - which is not required with the gearshift software the sequential box employs. However the car started from pole and has broken a few lap records this year showing the pace inherent in the car.

“We have used the part season we have undertaken this year, as an opportunity to learn about the car and we plan an intensive testing and development programme over the winter under the direction of our technical director Sergio Rinland. We think the car has demonstrated fantastic potential and will make an announcement about our increased committment to the British GT series for 2008 very soon."