Team Modena finished its maiden Le Mans Series season with a third place f💎inish in the GT1 class at Jarama - a result that saw Antonio Garcia take second place in the drivers' championship.

The team qualified second in the LMGT1 class, with Garica just two-tenths of a second off class pole in a very tight 20-minute session. However, in post-qualifying scrutineering an anomaly with the end-plates on the Aston Martin's rear wing saw the stewards of the meeting decree that the car should start from the back of the grid - making the race even more of a challenge for Garcia and team-mates David Brabham and Peter Hardman as he battled for the cl⛦ass drivers' title.

"We made a small and silly mistake with the technical regulations," team co-owner Rik Bryan said on Saturday evening. "The regulations are there for a reason and it i﷽s only fair that we have been penalised. We can only apologise to our drivers, Antonio, Peter and David, but with their combined talents we are still confident of a good result."

Garcia drove the first stint of the 1000km, or six hour, race - his home round of the LMS - and in the early laps worked his way through slower cars t🀅o latch onto his class rivals.

"There was lots of traffic early in the race," he said. "I had to pus꧟h hard which hurt the tyres later, but I was able to make up places."

Hardman took over at the wheel of the Aston Martin after 46-laps, and survived a scare after being hit by another car. A Safety ꩲCar period 🐈eight laps into his stint hurt the team, the Safety Car emerging ahead of the DBR9, which allowed some of their closest rivals to benefit as they latched onto the back of the queue having gained most of a lap.

After a strong and consistent stint Hardman handed over to Brabham on lap 97, the experienced Australian staying out until lap 145, also surviving൩ a scare when hit by another car.

"I had been trying to be as consistent as possible to look 𓂃after the tyres," he s🤡aid, "then was hit by a Porsche when trying to go past. We've caught up but really started too far back."

Garcia drove the final two stints on a track he knows well, battling hard with class rivals including twice in succession going throuꦍgh the first corner side by side fighting for third in class with a Corvette.

Another Safety Car period with less than ওan hour to go saw the Spaniard pit for tyres and fuel, emerging just behind the car third in class and quickly taking that position and pulling clear. Even a light burst of rain with 20-minutes to go didn't see the Team Modena Aston Martin threatened, and he brought the car over the line to the cheers of t🎉he team on the pitwall third in class and eighth overall.

The💟 result saw Garcia finish second in the GT1 drivers' points table.

"The ༺whole of the team did a really good job," he said. "It was hard starting from the back after the steward's decision, but we drove the first three stints very well. The two Safety Car periods cost us time to the other cars, we had been aiming to stay out longer and make one stop less than them during the race, but all that did was allow us to get back to where we would have been if we hadn't had the Safety Cars.

"I'm satisfied with how we drove the race, but disappointed 𝔍to finish second in the championship."

"That was a tough race," Brabham added, "starting from the back is never easy and even though we got on the podium, we finished a bit short in getting Antonio to the title. I'm pleased for the t൲eam that we made a strong showing in the final round - though it is obvious that the non-fiᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnish at the Nurburgring really hurt in the end."