The Balfe Motorsport Team has opened its account in the 2006 FIA GT Championship after Shaun Balfe and Jamie Derbyshire secured an eighth place finish in the third round of the season at Oschersleben.

After difficult races at Silverstone and Brno, the teams Saleen S7R was closer to the pace at the German circuit - allowing Balfe and Derbyshire to work their way further up the timesheets during the free practice sessions.

Incredibly hot conditions meant that the two drivers had to work hard to bring the car home for a finish and a single championship point, an over-heating engine being the major issue for them during the race.

“We're incredibly pleased to have finally chalked up our first point at this level,” Balfe said. “People might think that an eighth place result and a single point is not worthwhile. But this is the premier league of GT racing, there are no weak teams out there, so to be in the points is certainly a step forward for us.”

Although the car still doesn't have the ultimate pace of the front runners, improvements since the opening round of the year back in May mean that the Saleen is moving closer to the front – something which Balfe admitted was pleasing.

“We're knocking on the door of the rest of the grid, in terms of pace,” he said. “We struggled to get the car working at the beginning of the year and we're now really at the pace we thought we'd be at Silverstone. But we've solved the problems and there are still a couple of more developments that we can make as the season continues and we hope to be able to take a top six result as soon as possible. It's definitely open to us.”