OLI Webb made a huge contribution to an impressive team victory in the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

The Knutsford driving ace took turns at the wheel as Silverstone-based Greystone GT scored a stunning GT4 victory on their international endurance racing debut.

A mercurial display on-track along with fellow drivers Iain Campbell and Jamie Clarke, supported by perfect pit stops and expert race strategy, took the McLaren 570S GT4 to a class win at the Yas Marina Circuit – home of Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – by almost two minutes in the first major international race of 2022.

The Silverstone-based team arrived having never previously contested a race longer than 50 minutes and facing top-level championship-winning opposition in the GT4 category.

And with both Campbell and Clarke contesting their first endurance races too, expectations were kept in check.

Pro driver Webb, 30, a European Le Mans Series Champion and eight-time Le Mans 24 Hours starter, said: “It’s fantastic to be a part of Greystone GT’s biggest win to date.

"I did an awful lot of driving – six stints over the two parts of the race – and I certainly spent a lot of energy doing that, but it was worth it.

"The Aston Martin pushed us hard, but the critical point was getting a lap ahead by the halfway point, because that gave us a bit of leeway in the second half of the race.

"The whole team should be very proud. It’s the perfect way to start the season.”

The trio qualified second in class but a rocket start from Sandhurst racer Campbell propelled him into the lead as the first six-hour part of the race got underway.

He built a 15-second advantage inside the first 45 minutes, but saw the gap obliterated when the safety car was deployed to allow the remains of a heavy accident to be cleared.

A short pitstop on the four-hour mark enabled Webb to double-stint the McLaren and build a one-lap advantage at the head of the field – a crucial step as time gaps, but not lap leads, are eliminated at the six-hour halt of the race.

With a lap’s advantage, Campbell was again first behind the wheel as part two got underway at sunset and maintained the lead.

Once Webb climbed aboard, the advantage surged past the one-minute mark and Clarke pushed it nearer to two minutes in his next stint, which ended in the ninth hour.

After that the advantage sat somewhere between 90 seconds and two minutes for the remainder of the race.

Not only was it the most prestigious victory to date for Greystone GT, whose race team was formed just over a year ago, but it was also McLaren’s second GT4 victory in the past three runnings of the event.