Simon Blanckley found himself right in the thick of the action at
Oulton Park as the Sibsport man endured a difficult weekend during the latest rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
The weekend had started well for the Blanckley when he qualified in 15th place on the grid in his ex-Team Halfords Honda Integra – marking his best qualifying performance to date since joining the BTCC at the start of the season.
At the start of the opening race, Blanckley dropped behind the fast starting BMWs of
Tom Onslow-Cole and Martyn Bell before launching into a ace long battle with Bell – eventually taking the place on lap eleven. With problems for drivers ahead during the race, he eventually finished in twelfth place.
However in race two, held on a damp track after a torrential rain shower, Blanckley lost traction off the line and dropped a few positions before contact with the Alfa Romeo of Dave Pinkney forced him to retire with a smashed wheel rim, broken suspension and damaged steering. Despite the team repairing the car for the final race, Blanckley would fail to make it round to the grid when the car decided it didn't want to turn left at Cascades – bringing a tough weekend to a disappointing close.
"It was an active weekend to say the least!" Blanckley said. "The battle with Bell in the first race was really great and had I got a better start I'm sure we would have been in the points because our lap time were comparable with Gareth Howell, who finished tenth. The second race accident was a racing incident but fortunately the damage to our car wasn't as bad as it could have been. The team did a great job, given the lack of time, to repair the car for the final race of the day but unfortunately the car didn't want to turn left!
"We didn't get the results this weekend but our pace is getting better and better, which is the most positive thing."
Team manager Graham Hathaway added that he was pleased with the performance of the team in trying to get the car out for the final race – adding that only a lack of time to fix the car due to a delay getting it back from race two had prevented them from getting it totally ready.
