WILL Stevens secured a second-placed finish with his team at the world-famous Le Mans 24 hours over the weekend.

Rochford-born Stevens, 24, raced for British Motor Racing team Jota Sport with Russian racing outfit G-Drive Racing in France, having been released by his team Manor for the World Endurance Championship race, finishing second in the LMP2 category.

Racing with team-mates Rene Rast and Roman Rusinov, Stevens, who used to study at Southend’s Thorpe Hall School, was behind the wheel of the G-Drive Racing ORECA-Nissan 05 for Le Mans 24, sharing the driving with his German and Russian team-mates.

And in front of a watching crowd of more than 260,000 people, Stevens excelled with his Nissan-powered car completing 357 laps, the same amount as winning team Signatech Alpine, although G-Drive 2 minutes 40 seconds down the road from the French team.

G-Drive had qualified in pole position on the grid

It is Stevens’ first year in endurance racing, having competed in Formula 1 last season before he was replaced by Rio Haryanto, who outbid him for his seat.

Despite his exertions, Stevens will be back behind the wheel later this week as he is also competing in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, where he races alongside Rast and Spaniard Antonio Garcia for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.

Stevens will race at the 1000km Circuit Paul Ricard, near Marseille, having clocked up 36th, 6th and 9th placed finishes to date in the competition.