Atrocious weather at Spa-Francorchamps resulted in an early conclusion to the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series with JMW Motorsport’s Cumbrian driver Alex MacDowall taking away a top-four finish in the LMGTE class.

The 27-year-old, from Carlisle, actually didn’t get to turn a wheel in the four-hour race in Belgium as his stint was scheduled for the latter stages of the encounter.

When ELMS officials opted to red flag the contest at the halfway point, with the rain and track conditions only worsening, it wasn’t long before the decision was taken to abandon any thoughts of re-starting the action.

At the time of the stoppage, Spanish driver Miguel Molina was fourth in LMGTE for JMW and, with half points awarded he, MacDowall and team-mate Liam Griffin will go into the final race of the season in Portugal next month third in the standings, 11.5 points shy of the championship lead.

MacDowall said: "It got too bad in the end with the weather, which is why they moved the start of the race forward, as it was predicted to get like that.

“It’s worked out quite well for us though as, with half points, we haven’t lost much ground in the championship and I think the No.88 Porsche has only gained two points on us.

“The Porsches are far too quick at the moment. We would have struggled to win or even get on the podium, to be honest.

“Hopefully, something will be done before the last round in Portugal to even things up a bit more. The main objective is to try and finish as the best of the Ferraris, it will be a challenge to try and win the championship but we will give it everything.”

MacDowall’s hopes of claiming a second LMGTE championship crown will now all come down to a final round battle at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal, with round six taking place on Sunday, October 28.