It may be around a four hour drive from his actual base in County Durham, but Simon Blanckley will contest his second home race of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season this weekend as the series heads to
Snetterton.
The Norfolk circuit is one of the local circuits for the Graham Hathaway Engineering outfit that runs the Sibsport Honda Integra, with the team having run cars at the circuit probably more often than anywhere else something team manager Graham Hathaway hopes will prove to be beneficial when the on-track action kicks off on Saturday.
We are here all the time; it's almost like a second home, and the same goes for
Brands Hatch, he said. We probably know a lot more about the track than some of the other teams, as we are here running other cars in other championships or track days throughout the year.
Although we've never run the Integra around Snetterton, we should be able to sort the set up fairly early on in practice and dial in some quick laps in preparation for qualifying and the three races.
Blanckley himself has been successful in the past at the Norfolk venue, and powered his way to victory twelve months ago in his ex-works BTCC Honda Accord during the LMA Euro Saloons race.
Although that is a world away his current drive in the Integra, Blanckley said he was confident for the weekend ahead with the focus firmly on adding to his current points tally.
2006 was a great result, but it's a totally different situation this year in my debut BTCC season, he said. We are confident, though. Braking will be tough here but we haven't had any problems with the brakes so far this year. Aerodynamically the car is strong, so everything points to a competitive meeting. Realistically one or two point's finishes in the three races on Sunday is the aim.
We have the pace to be in the points regularly it's proven on the timesheets. We have just had misfortune recently.
