Damian Cudlin has finished 5th in the second round of the World Endurance Championship, held at Albacete in Spain over the weekend.

Cudlin was in hot form over the 3 days aboard his Phase One Yamaha, claiming the fastest time in Fridays timed practice, before slotting into 3rd place in final Qualifying.

Cudlin’s Aussie team mate and former World Champ Warwick Nowland started the 8hour race for Phase One and settled into a comfortable 4th position before the first round of stops.

Cudlin then stormed forward gaining around 20 seconds to claim 3rd place.

This was the story for much of the race as the team engaged in real dog fight for the podium.

However this wasn’t to be when an overheating engine, 50 minutes from the end, forced Nowland to pit as the team frantically tried to rectify the problem.

After assessing the damage, the Phase One team had no choice but to nurse the bike home, where it eventually crossed the line in 5th place.

“It sure was disappointing to see my first World Championship podium slip away again, but that’s racing.” Cudlin said. “The positive thing to take away is knowing we were right in the hunt. The team have made another step forward with the bike, and my confidence is sky high on it, so I’m happy enough. I know it won’t be long until I’m standing on the box.”

Cudlin now sits equal 4th in the World Championship standings with 3 rounds to go, but doesn’t want to settle for a top 5.

“I know that if things go our way we can win one before the year is out. I really want to finish the championship in the top 3 but anything higher would be nice.” Cudlin said. “We’ve just gotta keep plugging away.”

Cudlin will now be focusing on the next round of the Championship at Suzuka in Japan, where he hopes to close in on series leaders Suzuki.