Alessandro Latif recorded two more wins in the latest Blancpain Sprint Series Pro-Am Trophy class races in Portugal this weekend (6-7 September).
Latif and his German co-driver Marc Basseng now have a 27-point lead in the Pro-Am category with four races remaining.
Latif began the Qualifying Race on Saturday from ninth place on the 22-car grid around the 15-corner, 2.92-mile Autódromo Internacional do Algarve track but dropped to 18th on the opening lap when his Audi was hit from behind causing the young Briton to spin and pit with a damaged wheel.
Alessandro had recovered two places by the time he made his mandatory pit-stop to Basseng who brought the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra home first in the Pro-Am category and 11th overall.
Latif explained: “I was the victim of an ambitious manoeuvre which damaged the right rear wheel necessitating a quick pit-stop but we managed to rejoin just in front of the Safety Car which had come out after another on-track incident.
“This meant I was able to catch the pack for the re-start and overtook a couple of cars before handing over to Marc who managed to gain a few more places with a good pit-stop strategy.
“It was another Pro-Am win for us but overall it was a very frustrating result.”
Basseng made a good start in Sunday’s Main Race and handed the Audi over to Latif placed first with 27mins remaining in the one-hour race – Alessandro resuming fourth with all of the compulsory pit-stops completed.
Unsurprisingly, the British youngster had to give best to some cars driven by former Le Mans 24 Hour race winners, former GT3 champions or just more experienced GT3 drivers, Latif taking a creditable seventh place overall in the final classification.
“Marc made a good start and stayed out of trouble and made a late pit-stop for me to take over,” reflected Latif. “The Phoenix team again secured the fastest pit-stop so congratulations to the boys.
“I drove a tough stint to the finish and managed to bring the car home seventh to again secure some solid points.
“Our next objective is to find some more pace so we can fight in the top-five overall.
“Marc and I have now scored six Pro-Am class wins and have finished inside the top-10 overall in three of our last four races. We go to Zolder having almost doubled our points lead.”
Alessandro will race a rare Jaguar D-Type at the infamous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium over 19-21 September before the youngster contests the next Blancpain races at Zolder, also in Belgium, on 17-19 Oct.
Latif shares the 1955 Jaguar with Harry Wyndham in a Six Hour race bidding for honours in the Royal Automobile Club’s Woodcote Trophy.
“I’m very excited about this new challenge and the different form of racing,” added Alessandro. “I think it’ll be good to go into this race weekend and not have the pressure I’m usually under in the Blancpain series.
“The Jaguar was beautiful to drive when I tested it at Silverstone recently. It was hugely successful at Le Mans and was a car way ahead of its time. It’s ridiculous to think that the car is over 60 years old.”