A DISLODGED turbo pipe ended Sean Walkinshaw’s hopes of a strong finish in the Blancpain Endurance Series at the Paul Ricard circuit.

Going into the six-hour event in France equal fifth in the driver standings, the Chipping Norton 21-year-old and MRS GT Racing teammates Craig Dolby and Martin Plowman looked strong.

While they started 34th, the car scythed through the field.

But with a third of the way into the race the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 lost a huge amount of time in the pits due to the turbo problem.

The team were able to get the car back on track, but a 21st place finish in the Pro Cup and 42nd overall was their most frustrating result of the season.

Walkinshaw said: “It’s a shame the way things turned out, I’m pretty confident we could have easily been fifth in that race with the pace we had.

“Although we started much further back than we should have done, everything else went well and the car was fantastic from the start.

“After we lost time in the pits the car was pretty much perfect again and really fast.”

The team have a test at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium today and their next race is in the sprint series at the Moscow Raceway on July 4.