For the second time this year Alex Brundle has been in touching distance of victory in America only to be denied the climb to the top step of the podium by a mixture of misfortune and collisions.

'To come up two seconds short is, of course, disappointing, but we also understand what a strong car we have,' said the King's Lynn racer. 'I think we will be very competitive at the final round and a big victory to end the season would make up for missing out here.'

Brundle joined Gustavo Yacaman in debuting the new closed coupe Ligier JS P2 in the IMSA Tudor United Sportscar Championship and showed both the car and his paces by clinching pole position for the near three-hour event at the Circuit of The Americas, in Austin, Texas.

Yacaman started the event and built up a 20-second lead which was nullified due to a safety car interlude which allowed the chasing DP cars to close: that proved diasastrous as contact was subsequently made, spinning the Ligier.

Yacaman resumed racing in fifth place, improving to fourth before handing over to Brundle.

The 24-year-old, over his three stints, cancelled out the time lost at his extra stop and reeled in the leaders to set up a grandstand finish with just 1.2secs covering the podium places.

First up came an opportunistic move on the Action Express Corvette DP which was momentarily baulked by slower GT traffic. Having made the pass stick the same fate then struck Brundle, who was forced to defend down the long back straight. The pair reached the tight left-hander side by side, only for more traffic to settle the matter in the Ligier's favour.

Unfortunately, the squabble had allowed the leading Telcel Ford/Riley to break clear, and despite Brundle cutting the gap over the remaining two laps he was ultimately forced to settle for second.

• The Watton based Lifetime Racing team secured its third Britcar podium when Foulsham's Ian Anderson and co-driver Amanda Black took second place in the latest race at Silverstone.

Black started the event and quickly took the lead after sampling her first ever rolling start, but suffered a quick spin, after contact with a Ferrari, just before handing over to Anderson.

The local driver resumed in the lead, but as the race unfolded a vibration from the transmission saw him coax the car home in second to accompany the team's two early-season victories.