Team BMR boss Warren Scott admitted to being “sorely disappointed” not to see one of his drivers clinch the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, telling TCF that the defeat will leave the Teams’ Champions fighting back stronger in 2016.
The Volkswagen CC outfit entered with two drivers in contention for the title heading into Brands Hatch GP last weekend, Colin Turkington failing to retain his championship after being forced to pull over in race two of the day which left the team’s hopes lying with his former title rival, Jason Plato.
The double BTCC champion did all he could in race three by winning from turn two to the flag, but narrowly missed out by four points to Gordon Shedden in the title race after a charge through the field by the Honda man denied BMR’s turnaround.
“The goal was to do as best as we possibly could, but we were going after them all”, Scott told The Checkered Flag afterwards, admitting a sense of disappointment in missing out on more titles.
“We’re sorely disappointed that we didn’t succeed in the Drivers’ Championship. We tried everything for it, and for several reasons we haven’t had it.”
The final meeting of the season saw additional unwanted politics unfold during the opening two races of Sunday at Brands Hatch, championship runner-up Plato feeling he was held up in the second encounter by his own team-mate Aron Smith, while no team tactics were implemented in the opening race of the day.
“It was just a miscommunication”, Scott said of race one. “We all thought we knew what we were doing, but it was nobody’s fault; I take full responsibility for it and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“Emotions are going to be high when you’re running for the championship, so it’s difficult to see whether someone is misbehaving or not. I don’t think that was the case. The instructions just didn’t get through.
“It feels as if the whole championship has been decided by just one point, not four. So it hurts and it makes you focus your mind more clearly.”
Despite this, Scott’s team clinched the Teams’ Championship by a comfortable 76-point margin over nearest opposition, Honda Yuasa Racing, as well as the Independents’ Drivers and Teams Championships with Turkington taking the former for a fifth time in his career.
Hinting of no immediate changes, Scott added that a title push will be boosted by determination to go one better, saying: “We’re over the moon, but at the same time if this mistake had been made at the start of the year, we’d have been annoyed.
“We had a few issues and we made a few little mistakes, but that’s racing. Whatever hurts us today will make us stronger and we’ll come back fighting.”
BMR also had more reason to smile thanks to the performances of support championship drivers Ashley Sutton and Senna Proctor, the former clinching the Renault UK Clio Cup title last weekend while Proctor battled for Ginetta Junior honours all season.
“They’ve just been awesome haven’t they? You wouldn’t think that they were the age they are”, said Scott.
“They controlled themselves and did what they needed to do, so I’m extremely pleased with them and how they have got on.”
