Three podiums, a class victory and a charging drive from the back of the grid all added to the excitement of Bamboo Engineering's race weekend in Portugal.
Darryl O'Young and Harry Vaulkhard both showed good pace throughout the testing, and practice sessions, but it was Darryl who would come out best of the pair after Saturday's qualifying.
Darryl claimed second in class, and a fine 12th overall, whereas Harry could only manage fifth in class.
Harry had managed to qualify one place behind Darryl, but was penalised for not respecting the track limits on his fastest lap.
He was adjudged to have had all four wheels off-track at the sixteenth corner, and as a result was stripped of his best time, and had to rely on his second best time overall, which was 17th overall and 5th in class.
The first race was largely uneventful for the Bamboo drivers, but Darryl maintained position from start to finish to cross the line second in class, and tenth overall.
Harry took the flag 7th in class, but would be forced to start the second race from the back of the grid after having a request to work on the car between the two races allowed by the FIA, but suffering the penalty as a result.
Harry also claimed the fastest lap in class of the first race, with a time of 1:58.394.
The Bamboo drivers seized the chance to shine in the second race, delivering outstanding drives and a great result for the team.
Darryl moved into the lead of the Independent class race, whilst Harry battled his way from the rear of the grid to sit second in class for much of the race.
The dreams of a Bamboo 1-2 were dashed late on, when Harry was passed by Colin Turkington, but nevertheless, Bamboo took first and third in class and again showed the rest of the paddock what they are capable of.
Darryl's overall race position, tenth, was amended later in the day after a stewards decision affecting Rob Huff meant that Darryl's eventual race two classification was 9th.
Speaking to the official WTCC website, Darryl had this to say of his victory, “I have been in the lead before but finally I have a win. It’s a good weekend for my bamboo-engineering team as they always do a great job and finally I have given them a victory. I have also moved up in the championship so I’m right in the fight now. I am really pleased with this weekend”.
In the Yokohama Independents' Trophy, Darryl has now made great progress in catching up Championship leader, Sergio Hernandez.
Darryl has moved onto 56-points to sit second in the standings, and Harry has 44 points, and shares a tie for fifth place overall.
Bamboo remain second in the Yokohama Teams' Trophy after another successful weekend in their debut WTCC season.
The next round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship sees a visit to Brands Hatch for the British round of the championship.
It will be both Bamboo, and Harry's, first chance to race in the WTCC on home soil, and both will be seeking to impress in a car which has shown well on the Kent circuit in other championships.
The British round of the WTCC will be on the weekend of the 17th and 18th July
By Ian Price (www.ianpricemotorsport.com)
