Tom had a weekend to forget as the Touring Cars made their annual trip north of the border. Usually a successful venue for Tom, this year the results didn’t come …..
A mistake when running in 7th place in the first race caused impact with the barriers. Then a great drive through the field in the second race was ruined when Tom got caught up in an accident and retired on the spot. Finally the third race was a non-event as a broken clutch meant he didn’t even complete a lap.
The difficulties started on Saturday when Tom struggled to find a set up on the Astra Sport Hatch which suited the wet conditions. By the time qualifying started he still wasn’t happy and a 10th place was all he could manage;
“ That is very disappointing” Tom reflected, “ I just couldn’t get it right today. I never felt confident enough with the car to really attack the circuit and I’m off the pace, well down the grid and it’s going to be hard in tomorrow’s races to get a result. “
From his 10th place start in the first race, Tom set about trying to make up ground and with six laps gone he was 8th, pressuring Colin Turkington’s MG when the safety car made its first appearance. The race was only restarted for another four laps when the safety car was again deployed and as racing got underway again with only seven laps remaining, Tom was 7th.
Then a rare mistake. Exiting the chicane Tom ran wide onto the kerbs and suddenly slipped off the track, across the grass and into the safety barriers. The impact wasn’t very hard and Tom managed to drive the car back to the pits for a quick check, but his progress through the field was over. The VXRacing team sent him back out, but in a lowly 12th place and with no chance to improve in the closing laps.
“ I’ve got to put my hands up, that was my mistake” Tom commented after the race, “ I had quite bad understeer after the safety car and was struggling, but even so, there is no excuse really. I’ve made it difficult for myself now and will have to do it all again in the second race.”
The second race saw plenty of action and although the circuit had now dried significantly, early incidents again brought the safety car out on the third lap. Tom had made a fantastic start and as the field followed single file behind the safety car, he was already up to 7th place.
After the restart, things got even better as first Plato slid wide, then Shedden had a trip through the gravel elevating Tom to 5th. By half-distance things had closed up at the front behind race leader Fabrizio Giovanardi and places changed several times a lap. Tom held 4th briefly and was battling with Neal, Plato and Shedden for 3rd. Then on the final lap things got messy. Plato and Neal collided and with nowhere to go Tom ploughed into the side of them, retiring on the spot.
“ Gutted. That’s how I feel,” he said. “ There was nothing I could do. They touched and half-spun right in front of me. They could have ended up anywhere, but it happened with me right on their bumpers so I got tangled up in their accident as well. The car’s quite badly damaged and I don’t know if the mechanics can get it fixed in time for the third race. Such a shame because up till then it had been a great race for me. I would have finished 4th or 5th, maybe even on the podium, which from where I started I would have been really pleased with.”
Some consolation for the VXRacing team was that Giovanardi won the race and notched up Vauxhall’s 100th win in the BTCC. The team then worked flat out and managed to repair Tom’s car sufficiently for him to line up on the grid for the final race.
It didn’t last long though as halfway round the first lap he lost all drive. A broken clutch the cause, which probably had been damaged in the heavy impact sustained in the second race. A bitterly disappointing end to a frustrating weekend for Tom;
“That sums up my fortunes today, it’s been a nightmare overall. I’m pleased for Vauxhall though and Fabrizio to get the 100th win. It wasn’t my day, but I will look towards the next rounds at Brands and try to make up for it.
There is a three-week gap to those next races at Brands Hatch and the BTCC’s second visit to the Indy circuit. Tom qualified on pole there earlier this year and will be hoping to repeat that on the 24th September.
