Ben Barker ended his maiden European Le Mans Series campaign on a high note, posting the fastest lap of the Portuguese finale as the Gulf Racing UK team finished fourth in the GTE class.

 The Porsche-powered team continued the progress brought by switching to the newer 911 RSR model at the previous round, building on Barker’s class-leading run at Paul Ricard with team-mate Adam Carroll qualifying a closely-fought fifth in class at Estoril.

 “There were only a handful of tenths between us and GTE pole, but the class is so well-matched that that is all it takes to be a couple of rows behind,” Barker reasoned, “It was clear, however, that the Gulf Porsche would be threat to the frontrunners as the weekend went on.”

 As has become the norm in recent ELMS events, the Briton was slated to start the four-hour race, and duly repeated his French form by vaulting to second place early in the opening stint, led only by the pole-winning Aston Martin that treated its tyres more favourably on a cold circuit.

 “The Porsche was better when the track was warmer and had ‘rubbered’ in,” Barker explained, “Despite that, I was able to make up places early on and then hung on to the leader throughout my stint. I was able to deal with the traffic better than him, which helped to maintain the gap between us, and we looked more and more competitive as the race went on.”

 Although the early stages looked positive for the #86 Gulf car, its race was effectively undone at the first pit-stop, when the ‘launch control’ system designed to give the car a quick getaway failed.

 “It was a routine fuel stop until we attempted to get back into the race,” Barker revealed, “The Porsche is equipped with a launch control system that fires the car when coming off the airjacks but, instead of being able to pull away when the car hit the tarmac, it just sat there silently…. The time it took to switch off and reset the system was all it took to cost us a podium finish….”

 The disappointment was emphasised by the team’s otherwise competitive showing, with all three drivers turning in strong performances across the four hours. Mike Wainwright took over at the end of Barker’s stint, before Adam Carroll brought the #86 home fourth in class and twelfth overall in a field of 35. Barker, meanwhile, emerged with the fastest GTE lap of the race, capping a fine ELMS debut season in which he has established himself as a star of the future.

 “The problem at the pit-stop cost us around ten seconds – and we were only three seconds shy of the podium at the end,” Barker sighed, “Our performance definitely deserved a top three finish – probably even top two – but I guess we’ll just have to wait until next season. Even so, it was a great way to finish the campaign, and showed that the pace we had at Paul Ricard was no one-off.”

 Racing in both the ELMS and US-based Tudor United Sportscar Championship has further whetted Barker’s appetite for endurance racing, and both series – as well as some of the biggest races in the world – remain on his radar for 2015.

 In the meantime, the Briton’s 2014 season culminates with the final rounds of the Porsche Supercup at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas over the weekend of 31 October – 2 November.