In his latest Crash.net column, Martyn Bell looks back to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship events at Rockingham and Thruxton, as well as a day out at Cadwell Park – his favourite circuit in the UK.
I know I normally talk to you after each event, but Rockingham and the second round of the BTCC didn’t go to plan and there wasn’t much I could say about it when the weekend was finished.
After a good weekend at
Brands Hatch, we went to Rockingham full of expectations, but it didn’t go to plan. The car didn’t work as well as we thought it was going to, but then again the other BMWs – maybe with the exception of
Mat Jackson - suffered a similar fate.
In the first race, we went with a different set-up to what we’d used in qualifying and it wasn’t working for us. However, we had a 15th place finish which, to be honest, was all we could have expected. In the second race, it was really fast and furious and things got a bit hot and bothered.
I got a good start but the problem was that the incident that I got involved in left me with a tyre rubbing against the body work. I had to come in and get it sorted as I couldn’t do 100mph plus around the banking with a tyre doing that – it wasn’t safe. Getting it sorted put me a lap down but I nearly un-lapped myself from Rick at the finish and we got a twelfth. I thought that was ok in terms of a starting position for the final race and the lads worked really well to get the car straight so we could line up on the grid, but then we broke a driveshaft on the green flag lap.
We could have had points from that weekend and ok, they would have been lucky points to an extent, but they were ours for the taking. It was a rough one for us, but we lived to fight another day – and while the car was a little bit bent, we didn’t have the damage bills that some of the others did!
There was then a two week gap before Thruxton, and the BMW went straight off the NEC in Birmingham for the Commercial Vehicles Show where one of our sponsors had it on display. In a weird way, it worked out well for them that the car was a little bit bent as it seemed to draw bigger crowds with its battle scars than some of the other race cars on display did! Then the car returned to base to be fixed up ready for
Thruxton.
Meanwhile I had the chance to go to Cadwell Park with the AllAboutProperty.com Mini for the annual Cadwell media day. People like Cal Crutchlow, John Reynolds and Billy McConnell were there to represent the British Superbike Championship and were giving rides on their bikes, while I was taking people out – including the bikers – in the Mini.
Although it wasn’t as fast as the
BMW, we thrilled quite a few people in the Mini and a lap of the circuit went out on live radio. It was one of those days that you look back on and think ‘that was a good day out’. Having done those laps in the Mini, I’m still weighing it up in my mind – I’m sure a BTCC car could get round Cadwell. I’ll have to sit down with Jonathan Palmer and talk about it as I’m sure we can get the BTCC there between us!
There is no secret that I’m passionate about Cadwell as I love the place, it is a mini-Nurburgring. The more we can make people aware of Cadwell and more aware of the BTCC, the better. I like doing things like this for people as we can’t compete without the support of others so you need to give them something back.
With playtime over, it was off to Thruxton to try and get the first points of the season on the board. However, in qualifying we were down in 18th place and it wasn’t the team’s fault, it was down to me. Maybe I got myself beat up or had one too many Red Bulls before I went out – I don’t know. I had to put a banzai lap in at the end with a car that felt very unsettled so it wasn’t ideal.
I can get the car off the line now, so I made up quite a few places when the first race started and settled into a good rhythm. However the track temperature was cooler and we were suffering with oversteer quite badly through the complex and the car was a handful so I had to settle for 13th place, which was ok for starting the second race.
We softened the car a little bit and I had another good start, but then my friend Mr. Marsh decided to try and make the car into a compact again going into the Complex. That was it for me, the car was wrecked at the back and it was quite annoying really as it’s the second time he’s done it to me. The same thing happened at
Knockhill last season and maybe he needs to steady down a little bit. We had people on the banking saying he wouldn’t have stopped if I hadn’t turned in and would have ended up in Andover.
Anyway, the boys did good to get me back out there for the final race and the car was as straight as it could be. However, from lap four or five understeer came in and it was a handful, but I also made a silly mistake out the back and got on the grass letting three cars past. Once you drop off the back of these boys at a circuit like Thruxton, you can’t catch them. For once I was praying for a Safety Car to come out and it didn’t.
However, the end result from the weekend doesn’t reflect the effort we are putting in. We have the car more on the pace and were only 0.2secs off
Tom Onslow-Cole in the second race – and that has to be a tribute to the boys for the hard work they put in. We know that we have made progress this season with the car and we know that that progress isn’t reflected by the championship standings. We aren’t feeling down, we are just getting our bad luck out of the way in one go.
Last year we had a mechanical problem at Thruxton so maybe it is something of bogey track for me, but we have some good circuits coming up, and some that are quite local to me, so hopefully I can get some points under my belt.
Before I go, I just want to give a quick mention to my driver coach Kelvin, as I’m sure most of you will have now seen the accident he had in the Porsche race. It was a worrying moment for everyone – not just within the AllAboutProperty.com team – when we heard what had happened as the last thing you want is for a fellow driver to have such a big incident. It was a real relief when word came through the Kelvin was ok although I’m not surprised he was feeling a bit sore afterwards. Hopefully he’ll soon be feeling 100 per cent and we all wish him well and will look forward to having him back around the team.
Maybe we need to sort him out with some flying lessons when he feels up to it though, just in case…
Until next time,
MB
www.martynbellracing.com
