Martyn Bell enjoyed a solid debut for his new Arkas Racing with Sunshine.co.uk team as the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season kicked off at
Brands Hatch.
The weekend marked the first time that Bell has raced using front-wheel drive, going into the weekend looking to continue his education with the Tech-Speed run Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch.
Unfortunately for Bell, qualifying didn't go to plan when he missed a radio call to come in for new tyres and was caught out by tricky damp conditions at Paddock Hill Bend, going off into the gravel and being left in 24th on the grid for the opening race.
His luck didn't improve when the race itself got underway, when rival Alan Taylor suffered a spin coming out of Graham Hill Bend and collected the Astra in the process, putting Bell into retirement.
However, from the back of the field for race two, Bell came through to finish 17th, right behind team-mate Erkut Kizilirmak, and then finished one place higher in race three, with his fastest race lap being barely a second slower than defending champion Fabrizio Giovanardi.
"It's no secret that I've been ill and I'm still not feeling 100 per cent, but I'm getting used to the car now and I'm happy with how it's gone," he said. "Practice on Saturday went ok for us, but we got it wrong in qualifying. I didn't come in when I should and we paid the price. In the first race, Taylor wiped me out but I don't have a problem with it as there was nothing else he could have done; it's just one of those things and he apologised afterwards.
"In race two, I got into the groove a bit and went formation flying with the boss and then in the last race we made a change to the car and it took a second a lap off my times. That is the first time I've made any real changes to the car so it's given me confidence going forward that I can make a change and it will do something.
