Tom Oliphant will be thinking what-if after the latest weekend of BTCC action at Thruxton with the West Surrey Racing driver coming back strongly after a challenging start to proceedings.
In qualifying, Oliphant qualified tenth and went into eighth going into the first corner to receive a drive-through penalty which halted his progress.
This meant his Race 2 was halted and he had to charge from twenty-third into a points scoring position. As a result, it gave him hope for the final race of the day and he charged into seventh to finish off.
He spoke afterwards and admitted that his penalty was his fault but that it was pleasing to fight back in the way that he did.
“It has been a weekend of what could have been really. The car and the team have been brilliant once again and collectively we have shown how good the BMW 330i M-Sport is around here.
“I will hold my hands up and say it was my mistake when it comes down to the drive-through penalty, it certainly won’t happen again. Had it not been for that then I think we would have come away from the weekend well inside the top ten in all three races, which is a bit frustrating.
“To fight my way from effectively the back of the grid over the course of three races to finish inside the top ten is pleasing, and we have learnt a lot about the car that we can use when we come back to Thruxton in August.
He also looked ahead to Croft and he sees it as a happy hunting ground for the team so is hoping for the best going into the next round of BTCC action.
“We head to Croft next now and that has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for rear-wheel-drive in the past so we will see how things play out.”
