OLIVER Webb is confident his team can improve their car in time to make an impression at the prestigious Le Mans 24-hour race in June.

He shared driving duty with Dominik Kraihamer and James Rossiter for ByKolles Racing during the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone last week.

Their machine has a new engine for 2017, and the meeting provided a first opportunity to test it.

There were no problems for most of a six-hour race, but their involvement ended half an hour early following contact with a rival in the pit-lane.

Webb said: “Our overall pace was down, but we knew we’d be playing catch up after a challenging winter.

“The good news is the engine seems reliable and solid, and there is straight-line speed we can build on.

“There are further upgrades due too, so we’ll get quicker from here.”

The campaign resumes at Spa, in Belgium, next week.