Rick Pearson returned to the Le Mans Endurance Series for the season finale in Istanbul as he joined up with John Hartshorne and Richard Stanton in the Racesport Peninsula TVR T400R, but the team was left disappointed after being unclassified at the finish.

With Stanton falling ill overnight, Pearson was first behind the wheel for the 1000KM, six-hour race and was running well before he had a minor off in the wet conditions.

Pearson wasn't the only one to be caught out with the safety car called out while the stricken Palmyr Lucchini was recovered from the circuit but once the safety car pulled in, Pearson quickly passed the JMB Ferrari GT1 before pulling in to the pits to hand the car over to Hartshorne.

He used his experience well, mastering the tricky conditions as several competitors retired from the race and, with the GT2 class title going down to the wire, tensions were running high as a recovered Stanton stepped in to the car for the run to the flag.

Staying behind the wheel for a marathon double stint, Stanton was briefly caught out when a deluge of rain resulted in a huge spin just ten minutes shy of the six-hour mark.

Bringing the car back under control, he continued on the same set of wet weather tyres used for the duration of the race but was forced to pit for fuel as the flag dropped to mark both the end of the race and the 2005 LMES season – with the car deemed to be a DNF because it had finished in the pitlane.

"Never having driven the car prior to Friday's practice session, I found the TVR to be incredibly reliable, trustworthy and a pleasure to drive," Pearson said. "It is stable and very quick, very trusting and neutral.

"Both John Hartshorne and Richard Stanton have done an amazing job with it this season and it was a pleasure to race with them and the rest of the Racesport Peninsula team.

"I'm very impressed with the new Istanbul circuit and hope to be back here next year. The conditions were very changeable during the race; on one lap the kink on the back straight was flat in fifth gear even in the wet, then on the next lap I nearly had an enormous accident in fourth when the rain suddenly came down.

"Being classified as DNF after finishing in the pit lane due to a lack of fuel was very disappointing after a great race by the whole team."