Erkut Kizilrmak was forced to fight a bout of flu during the final weekend of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at
Thruxton, although the Arkas Racing man was still able to wrap up a solid eighth place in the Independents' standings.
The 38-year-old was looking to add to his overall points tally having battled into the top ten for the first time at Brands Hatch during his last outing but saw luck go against him at the high-speed Hampshire circuit during the final meeting of the year.
Having risen from 19th on the grid to 15th in the opening race, hopes were high of an even stronger result in race two but Erkut's race only lasted as far as the complex on lap one when he was tagged from behind and forced into retirement.
Lining up for the final race of the campaign on the last row of the grid as a result, Erkut made an excellent start in his Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch and had gained several places by the time the field reached the first corner, Allard.
Nudged down the order a couple more places during the next lap or so, the Turkish driver fought-back into the top 18 by lap eight but then on lap twelve, more disappointment struck when his car suffered a driveshaft failure.
It's been a difficult weekend for me as I haven't felt all that well but it was still great to be back racing in the BTCC after such a long break since we were at
Brands Hatch, he said, I'm disappointed to have two non-finishes but sometimes that's the way it goes. It's been a good year though overall, I can't wait to come back next year!
On behalf of Arkas Racing, Tech-Speed Motorsport and everyone else associated with the team, I would like to send our congratulations to all at Vauxhall and VX Racing for winning the manufacturers championship and, of course, to Fabrizio Giovanardi for becoming the 2007 BTCC champion.
