It’s been a while since my last blog installment but I’m back with my penultimate post of the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship campaign!
After such a strong showing at Snetterton, things didn’t go quite to plan at Rockingham Motor Speedway. A collision with Will Bratt in the first race put me on the back foot for the remainder of the race weekend, but we managed to hold on to seventh position in the championship standings with two solid 11th place finishes in dismal weather conditions at the Corby-based venue.
Moving on to Silverstone for the penultimate round of the championship, we knew that the car would go well here. Free Practice 2 saw the Avensis run like a dream but we didn’t quite have enough to beat Frank Wrathall as the top Toyota in qualifying, settling for seventh position for race one.
My start let me down in race one, immediately dropping to 12th position on the first lap. This didn’t faze me as the Toyota Avensis felt great, and by the completion of the race we had worked our way back through the field to our starting position of seventh.
Unfortunately a gearbox issue whilst in contention for a strong finish in race two would hinder our progress for the remainder of the weekend and lead to a DNF in the race. The team did a fabulous job to get me back out on track for the final race of the weekend in such a short space of time however, and starting from 19th on the grid, I got well and truly stuck in to bring the car home in a solid eighth position.
Overall, I was happy with the way things had gone at Silverstone. With Mat Jackson edging ever closer to me in the championship standings, things could have been a lot worse.
I have to say a huge thank you to the Ciceley Racing team for their hard work and determination to get me back out on track for the final race of the weekend. The hard work paid off and we still hold a 20-point lead over Mat Jackson heading into this weekend’s finale at Brands Hatch in Kent this weekend.
As you’re all aware, we also announced our exciting plans for 2014 on the run up to Silverstone. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time working with Toyota and the Avensis, but CANNOT wait to start development work on the Mercedes-Benz A-Class now!
Don’t forget that you can keep up-to-date with all of the latest news via @ciceleyracing and @adammorgan33 on Twitter. I look forward to catching up with you all after the weekend.
Wish me luck!
Adam
