Colin Noble makes up ground on the final day to lift title

Noble, team mate Tony Wells and their Nielsen Racing team arrived in Thailand for the final four hour race of the season, just three points from the head of the championship.

That came down to just two points after Colin put in a dominant performance in qualifying, putting the #2 Norma Nissan on class pole, well clear of their championship rivals Inter Europol.

Things looked a little less secure when Wells dropped into the pack before rallying and holding the gap.

An hour in and it was time for Colin to take to the track and take the fight to the rest.

Progress came quickly, the #2 car moving up the order, with Tony’s second stint also seeing further progress, by which time the task in hand was very different.

That was because the championship leading car had its challenge ended by a mechanical failure.

That left Colin and Tony simply needing to finish the race to clinch the title.

Colin said: “We knew then that we just had to finish but honestly it’s never a good tactic to take it easy in a race, you have to keep pushing, it keeps up the focus, and somehow leaves you feeling less pressured.”

That meant that Noble was still making progress and he set the fastest LMP3 lap of the race in the process. By the flag, he was in a comfortable second place in the class, enough to take the title by 16 points.

“It’s great to finally get to a major title in LMP3 after being in the mix in Europe and here in Asia in recent years. It’s particularly pleasing to do it with Tony who has made great progress with his own racing and that has helped me too.”

A coveted entry to the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours is the added prize for the team. Next Colin moves on to the European Le Mans Series.