Exeter-born racer Harry Tincknell said he had tears in his eyes following his team’s victory at the International Motor Sport Association (IMSA) Road Race Showcase.
Ticknell took first place alongside Mazda Team Joest teammate Jonathan Bomarito at the Road America circuit in the north east of the United States.
The result marked the third win of the season for the #55 Mazda RT24-P following their win at the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen in June and success at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park a week later.
Tincknell's teammate Bomarito, who was racing in his home country, started the race having qualified in fourth place.
The fourth mile proved crucial as Bomarito managed to move up the leaderboard thanks to some smart traffic management.
Tincknell took over on lap 32 and immediately moved up to second place to put pressure on leader Juan Pablo Montoya.
The race winning move came on lap 37 when the Devon racer succesfully completed a daring overtake on the outside on the first corner.
It was time for some defending on his own and Tincknell withstood pressure to take the victory by a narrow 0.227 second.
In total, the #55 Mazda RT25-P led for a total of 44 laps and the race set a new record for an IMSA event at Road America, completeting 83 laps in two hours, 41 minutes and 43.1 second.
After the race, Tincknell said: "I couldn't believe when we took the checkered flag in first.
"I had tears in my eyes on the cool down lap.
"We had been close all weekend but we thought that third place would be a really strong result. However, once I took over the car from Jonathan and was able to stay on the back of the two leaders, I thought that maybe there was a chance.
"When I got to the lead, from that point on, I had to manage the traffic as best as I could but it was really hard and the last three laps the other cars caught back up to me.
"Luckily it still worked out and here we are here with the third straight win for Mazda.
"The team did a fantastic job all weekend so the credit has to go to them".
Tincknell's next round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship will be at Laguna Seca, California on Sunday, September 15.
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