TOUGH WEEKEND
The Motorbase crew endured a tough weekend at Thruxton, but fought their way back into the points thanks to a lot of grit and determination
Every year the BTCC throws you a curve-ball meeting, when nothing seems to go for you – with such a fiercely competitive grid no one car/team/driver is guaranteed a place at the sharp end of the results standings, and it’s how you deal with things when they’re not going your way that will ultimately win the Championship. Sadly, Thruxton was one of those weekends to forget for us. It all started badly when, during qualifying, Tom Chilton was run off the road and into a barrier – meaning we had to rebuild the #3 Focus overnight to get to ready for the race on Sunday. And even then, Tom had to start in P22 with a whopping 36kg of success ballast on-board because of his lofty Championship position. He did well to make up a few places in an uncharacteristically processional race, crossing the line in P18. Teammate, Ollie Jackson, fared a little better finishing in P16, but just outside of the points positions.
Free from any ballast for race 2, Tom battled hard for the duration of the 16 laps to eventually cross the line in 13th, only for the race officials to amend the result after deeming Tom had exceeded track limits, relegating him to P25! Ollie’s race 2 was equally as frustrating; a heavy hit from Smiley’s Honda left him stricken for the rest of the race with a puncture.
The final race of the day finally delivered some small reward, though. Both cars made outstanding starts from the back of the grid, making up numerous places on the opening lap before the safety car was called into action. Both drivers continued their run in the interrupted race, with Tom ultimately breaking into the points to finish in P13, and Ollie in P16 as the final flag dropped. Tom said: “It’s nice to end a tough weekend with a much faster car than we started with, and to have scored some points. Actually for me personally, race 3 was a little bit of a high as I went from the back of the grid to 13th. We made more set-up changes to the car which worked, and we made a big leap forwards in pace. We’ve still got a fraction more to find, but what we have unlocked will put us in good stead for the next round and also for when we come back here in a few months’ time. We have completely transformed the car this weekend, and all credit to the team and especially to Pete, who has worked incredibly hard.”
Although a challenging weekend, we leave the Hampshire circuit with a mass of data under our belt ahead of the return visit to Thruxton later in the year.