SAM Tordoff received an excellent early birthday present.

The Rawdon driver, who turns 26 this weekend, came second in a stunning start to his career as an endurance driver.

The JMW Motorsport ace was runner-up on his European Le Mans Series (ELMS) debut at Silverstone, despite facing seasoned factory and endurance racers among his opponents.

Partnering fellow Britons George Richardson and Rob Smith in the four-hour event in their Ferrari 458, Tordoff was sent out in qualifying and put in a strong performance to bag sixth place on the grid, posting the quickest time in the car.

In the race itself, Smith made a solid start and was as high as third, handing over to Tordoff in a strong position.

The rookie then belied his lack of experience to put the car up into second place, showing impressive consistency.

Tordoff said: "This was a big challenge for me. I had never done a pit stop before, a driver changeover or taken over a car mid-race. I think I shocked myself with my first stint."

With just over half the race gone, Richardson continued the fast laps and, although the safety car's intervention did not work in the JMW team's favour, the late-race speed of Richardson and Tordoff enabled them to finish second overall and stake their claim as series contenders.

Tordoff said: "We peaked at the right time. The car was great and it was an amazing experience.

"When I got in for my second stint – the final one of the race – I felt I really had the grasp of it. I am thrilled with our result. This has been really special."

The second round of the ELMS takes places at Imola on May 16-17 but Tordoff will be far from idle before his Italian outing.

He returns to British Touring Car Championship duties with West Surrey Racing this weekend and will be completing a full BTCC campaign in 2015 in tandem with his ELMS adventure.

If all that was not enough exertion, Tordoff will also be running the Virgin Money London Marathon for Cancer Research UK a week on Sunday.

Supporters can sponsor him via his fund-raising page where, as an extra incentive, you can guess his marathon time, with the nearest person winning his 2014 BTCC race overalls.