THE BTCC IS BACK…
After a mid-season break, the Motorbase crew head to Snetterton followed by Thruxton, with mixed results as the second half of the season gets underway…
After having such a successful tyre test at Snetterton during the mid-season break, where both drivers topped the time sheets over the two days, we were cautiously optimistic as we returned to the Norfolk circuit for the second half of the 2019 season to get underway. What started well, quickly showed what a cruel mistress racing can be; Tom Chilton stormed off the line in Race 1, pulling off a great move to slot into P3 only for a puncture to pitch him into the barriers and end his race, and ultimately upset his entire weekend. Meanwhile, Tom’s teammate, Ollie Jackson, continued to make his way up the order and finish P8.
That put Ollie in a fantastic position for the start of Race 2, and he fully capitalised at the start, launching his way into P6 by the first corner. Continuing a stellar drive, he scythed his way into fifth, before catching the lead pack and making a move into P4 as the leaders all battled with one another. Finishing fourth was not only Ollie’s best result so far, it also netted him the Independent’s win and his first visit to the podium too.
Starting at the back of the field meant Tom was always destined for a tough race as he tried to make progress. He showed great pace, though, and at one point looked on for a possible points finish. Despite getting held up in the mid-field, Tom’s commendable fightback saw him take an impressive 12 places to eventually finish P17.
The final race saw tyre choice come into play, with Tom on the less-favourable harder compound, and Ollie loaded up with 30kg of success ballast after his great result in Race 2. Ollie’s tenacity and defensive driving skills were repaid with a P7 finish, ending the day with a third top-ten finish and his best-ever BTCC weekend.
While, in the sister car, Tom did well to stay out of trouble as he raced through heavy traffic, showing his true class once more in the closing laps to break into the pointsscoring zone and bringing the Focus home unscathed in P12.
Although a mixed bag of results for the two drivers over the weekend, the team felt we had made huge strides forward with the Focus RS, and were full of confidence and as we headed to Thruxton a couple of weeks later.
But, we struggled to unlock the full potential of the Focus RS during Saturday’s free practice and qualifying sessions, meaning Tom and Ollie found themselves starting in P16 and P14 respectively for the first of Sunday’s three races.
Then, to compound our bad luck, Tom’s hopes of recovery in Race 1 were quickly dashed when he was forced to return to the pits on the green flag lap with a turbo issue. The crew got him back out as quickly as possible, however, the best result he could muster was P22 having raced from the back of the pack. Contact picked up on the opening lap curtailed Ollie’s efforts too, and he took the flag in P15.
With bad luck hitting in the first of the weekend’s races it forces you to change your plans, and our eyes were now on Race 3, and trying to finish in the top 12 in Race 2 to be in with a shout of being drawn on pole for the reverse grid. Tom did battle his way through the pack in Race 2 to claim that P12 spot and be in the hat for the reverse draw,
but Ollie endured some door-to-door track battles which dropped him back to 18th.
Despite his best efforts to be in the draw, the reverse grid was only for the top 6 cars, meaning Tom started Race 3 in P12, with Ollie a few places behind in P18. They say ‘it never rains but it pours’, and that was the case for us in the final race of the day… literally. Tom had caught the pack battling for P6 with just three laps left, and almost pulled off a stunning manoeuvre in the pouring rain to lunge around the outside as they headed into the complex, but a heavy hit from behind sent him into a slide, forcing Tom to make a dramatic save. It was a great save, but sadly his efforts weren’t rewarded with places, as he dropped down the order to finish P22. Teammate, Ollie, had a slightly less dramatic final race, and his consistent points-scoring efforts saw him claim P15; his 8th points finish from the last 9 races.
Looking back at the weekend, Team Manager, Oly Collins said: “That was a tough weekend. We came to Thruxton with optimism and promise after recent weeks of testing and development, but we didn't get it right when it mattered. On race day any glimmer of hope sadly failed to come to anything. We need to learn from our failings this weekend in every area and make sure it doesn't happen again. We have a great team and this weekend didn't reflect that.”
We’re all hurting from the poor results from recent rounds, and we know we have the team and the cars to be competing for race victories, and that’s exactly what we'll be aiming for when we head up north to Scotland’s Knockhill for the next rounds...