Simon Blanckley endured a weekend of mixed fortunes as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship made its annual visit to
Donington Park as a solid Saturday performance was followed by disappointment on Sunday.
The Sibsport man was on form during the free practice and qualifying session as he put his Honda Integra in 13th place on the grid for the opening race of the weekend. While others hit trouble in the tricky conditions, a solid start saw Blanckley climb up to twelfth place but contact from the recovering Honda Civic of
Matt Neal – which had pitted with a puncture – damaged the exhaust and driveshaft on the Integra and put Blanckley out of the race.
From 21st on the grid for race two, Blanckley was unable to make the most of the pace of his Integra and was unable to climb higher than 17th despite setting a quickest time nearly seventh tenths of a second quicker than eighth placed Matt Allison. The final race of the day then ended in disappointment when Blanckley spun off on standing water at the Craner Curves.
“Saturday was a great day for us – we set ultra fast times and it was easily our best day of the season so far,” he said. “Being in the mid-field in the wet is really tough as there was spray everywhere; it was so dangerous, especially in the first race on Sunday.
“I think we could have achieved a point or two in race one had we not been forced to retire. Matt apologised for the first race which was nice, but I know it was unintentional. We get on really well, and I'm happy for him that he got a podium after being quite far back.
“Away from the track we had a great atmosphere in the garage as I had arranged for a party of sponsor guests to come to the race, and despite the weather, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.”
