In his latest column for Crash.net, Martyn Bell looks back over Finals Day for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone and the final meeting of his debut season as a touring car racer.
From the first practice session to qualifying at Silverstone we were pleased, as the new suspension meant we had to treat Saturday as a test day. Towards the end of qualifying we ran seven consistent laps in the 62secs which I felt could carry us to a top ten finish on race day – and it’s the first time I was able to say that.
The car felt so much better and wasn’t so sideways, although we were running a lot of wing to give me more down force through Copse. It was just a confidence thing, as it has been all year, and Geoff gave me a good car that was stable and I was happy to be quite close to the top ten.
With the suspension, we were in a position where when we changed something, we could feel it. In the first session, we were coming in and going either side of the window we had previously had and I could feel it every time. Once I went through Copse in a full on drift which is something the car would do before – only this time we could make the changes to stop it. We had adjustable suspension for the first time and it was just a shame that it took us until the final round to get the package that we had. However it is something that makes me feel we will be fine next year.
In qualifying I latched onto Mike Jordan, and a few meetings ago a Honda Integra would have driven away from me. But I kept with him and then the throttle cable snapped on what I felt would have been the best lap. But the car was getting better and better as I got used to it and we were consistent – which is what I feel our forte was over the weekend, that ability to go out and lap consistently.
