Rick Kerry will make further history in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship this weekend at
Brands Hatch as he prepares to run his
BMW 120d on bio-diesel for the first time.
Kerry is set to run a blend of the fuel during the eighth round of the season as he seeks to overcome the disappointment of his home round at
Snetterton three weeks ago – when mechanical problems left him unable to start two of the three races.
Those problems, and indeed some of the issues that have affected the car in earlier meetings, have now been linked to leaking seal on the car but Kerry said he was hopeful that the problems have now been resolved heading back to the scene of his BTCC debut.
"We have discovered that our recent problems have all been linked to a leaking inlet manifold seal – a part that probably costs about £1.50," he told
Crash.net. "We've had a busy three weeks since Snetterton and we will have a new turbo on the car, and will be heading to Bruntingthorpe tomorrow (Thursday) to do a brief test just to make sure that everything is ok.
"This weekend we will be running on a blend of bio-diesel for the first time, which is something we have always planned to do, and it will make us the first people to run bio-diesel in the series. It might give us a slight improvement in torque but the opening practice session on Saturday will be the first time we have run it, so we'll have to wait and see. If all goes well, we will then aim to run a higher blend at
Thruxton at the end of the year as we aren't yet sure if we will do
Knockhill."
Kerry added that he was hoping to get the chance to race with the pack on the tight and twisty Indy circuit – and wasn't concerned about the possibility of incurring some panel damage if it means he is able to dice with the pack.
"It will be good to see how far we have come and we are aiming to try and be at least two seconds quicker than we were on the first weekend of the season," he said. "I've got high hopes going into the weekend. I know we aren't going to go there and win a race, but I think we have the chance to go out there and race with some people. I want to run with the pack and I don't mind if I pick up some panel damage as long as its from fighting with people for position!
"The car is a lot better, we have learnt a lot more about it and this is a big weekend for us as we look towards next season. I want to go out there and show that we deserve to be in the BTCC and aren't just making up the numbers. It could be one of the most important weekends I've had in racing and the pressure is on to make progress and get a result – but I don't mind the pressure."
