Jelley misses out on home soil

Having been on the pace throughout practice and qualifying at Donington Park, Stephen Jelley was left to wonder what might have been after managing just four laps on race day for his home rounds of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Jelley had posted the quickest time in both free practice sessions at the wheel of his BMW 320si, and then qualified in fifth position on the grid - setting him up well for race day.

However, it wouldn't last long for Jelley as he came together with Matt Neal as the pair exited Redgate on the fifth lap, with the BMW spinning to the outside of the circuit and making heavy contact with the wall.

With two wheels ripped off the car and damage to the bodyshell, Jelley was left with little option but to sit out the remainder of race day, with the team now set to work on repairing his car ahead of the next round of the year at Oulton Park.

"Obviously it's disappointing to have only completed four racing laps at my home circuit," he said. "The Donington circuit is always slick and the heavy rain didn't help us. We were doing a good job keeping the car in a straight line, but I got a tap from behind and ended up in the wall.

"I was fastest in practice on Saturday, and in race two Colin showed just how fast the BMW was on a dry track. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to compete, as I'm sure we would have been up there."