WSR drivers Andy Neate and Rob Collard enjoyed a day of mixed fortunes in rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Croft circuit, North Yorkshire.
In the first race, a great move at the last corner by Collard saw him nearly snatch victory, crossing the line only three hundredths of a second behind the winner.
Andy Neate underlined his increasing potential with by scoring another point in race two.
However, in the last race of the day, both were eliminated from contention through racing incidents.
Race One
A superb qualifying performance by Rob Collard on Saturday saw him record a time almost a second faster than last year’s pole position time to grab third on the grid. From the start he held this position until lap seven when he pulled off an audacious pass on Tom Chilton to move into second place. He then set about the pursuit of race leader, Gordon Shedden, catching him on the penultimate lap. Despite several attempts by Rob to pass, Shedden made his car very wide for the last two laps. However, at the last corner Collard drove around the outside at the hairpin, Shedden pushed him wide onto the grass, the two then drove side-by-side to the finish line, with Shedden snatching the victory by the narrowest of margins.
Andy Neate had to start from the very back of the grid as a result of a penalty carried over from the previous race meeting. Andy made good progress throughout the race to eventually finish sixteenth.
Race Two
With his car now carrying 36kg of success ballast Rob Collard made a solid start and was sitting comfortably in third place at the end of lap one. Then, an overly optimistic move by Matt Neal at Tower Bend saw him hit the side of Paul O’Neil, pushing the innocent O’Neil into Collard. The contact put the WSR BMW into a spin and out of contention. Rob rejoined the race in 21st position and then fought his way through to a very credible eighth position at the finish.
Andy Neate got off to a flying start and by lap 11 was up in the points. As the race wore on his WSR BMW’s lap times continued to improve and by the end he was matching the pace of the leaders.
Race Three
Both WSR drivers made good starts, making up several positions into the first corner. Disaster struck for Andy Neate though with contact from two other competitors forcing him into a spin with the resultant damage causing him to subsequently retire from the race.
Rob Collard was clearly the fastest man on the track and several great passes saw him move into third by lap 10. Whilst challenging Tom Onslow-Cole for second place, at the end of lap 12 Collard lost all electrics to his car and had to coast into the pitlane. This freakish occurrence was caused by a piece of debris hitting the master switch on the exterior of the car. Quick action by the WSR pit crew got him going again, but by that time he was out of contention.
Andy Neate:
“Overall I should be pleased with Croft as I had genuine race pace to challenge the Plato’s, Neal’s and my own team mate to boot. It’s a shame my pace didn’t reward the team and with some better fortune, I deserved results.”
“For the first time I genuinely lined up on the grid into race three thinking a podium was a realistic possibility, if it wasn’t for the first corner incident the WSR BMW was so strong in race trim I don’t doubt for a second we would have been in the mix for my first top 3 in the BTCC. Hopefully we can carry this progress onto Snetterto;, it’s a track that I’ve won on many times in the past so fingers crossed.”
Rob Collard:
“We started the weekend so well on Saturday – we were immediately quick in free practice and continued to improve the BMW, exploiting its full potential in qualifying.”
“We were very positive going into Sunday that we had a race-winning car and very nearly pulled it off in race one. Maybe at that point I should have just gone home!”
“In race two my strategy was to look after my tyres in the early laps then make my move for the lead. However, once again I was the innocent victim of other drivers’ actions. This is third event in a row that I have been taken out of a podium position in the second race of the day through no fault of my own. “
“It’s very frustrating, but we’ll regroup in the long break and look to maximise our results in the second half of the season.”
Dick Bennetts:
“It was a very frustrating weekend for the eBay Motors BMW team, as going into it we were confident of both drivers being right up there in the points.”
“Rob has now been taken out of four podium positions this season through absolutely no fault of his own.”
“Andy is continuing to improve and is now well capable of running consistently in the top ten. I’m sure he’ll score quite a few points in the second half of the season.”
WSR drivers Andy Neate and Rob Collard enjoyed a day of mixed fortunes in rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Croft circuit, North Yorkshire.
In the first race, a great move at the last corner by Collard saw him nearly snatch victory, crossing the line only three hundredths of a second behind the winner.
Andy Neate underlined his increasing potential with by scoring another point in race two.
However, in the last race of the day, both were eliminated from contention through racing incidents.
Race One
A superb qualifying performance by Rob Collard on Saturday saw him record a time almost a second faster than last year’s pole position time to grab third on the grid. From the start he held this position until lap seven when he pulled off an audacious pass on Tom Chilton to move into second place. He then set about the pursuit of race leader, Gordon Shedden, catching him on the penultimate lap. Despite several attempts by Rob to pass, Shedden made his car very wide for the last two laps. However, at the last corner Collard drove around the outside at the hairpin, Shedden pushed him wide onto the grass, the two then drove side-by-side to the finish line, with Shedden snatching the victory by the narrowest of margins.
Andy Neate had to start from the very back of the grid as a result of a penalty carried over from the previous race meeting. Andy made good progress throughout the race to eventually finish sixteenth.
Race Two
With his car now carrying 36kg of success ballast Rob Collard made a solid start and was sitting comfortably in third place at the end of lap one. Then, an overly optimistic move by Matt Neal at Tower Bend saw him hit the side of Paul O’Neil, pushing the innocent O’Neil into Collard. The contact put the WSR BMW into a spin and out of contention. Rob rejoined the race in 21st position and then fought his way through to a very credible eighth position at the finish.
Andy Neate got off to a flying start and by lap 11 was up in the points. As the race wore on his WSR BMW’s lap times continued to improve and by the end he was matching the pace of the leaders.
Race Three
Both WSR drivers made good starts, making up several positions into the first corner. Disaster struck for Andy Neate though with contact from two other competitors forcing him into a spin with the resultant damage causing him to subsequently retire from the race.
Rob Collard was clearly the fastest man on the track and several great passes saw him move into third by lap 10. Whilst challenging Tom Onslow-Cole for second place, at the end of lap 12 Collard lost all electrics to his car and had to coast into the pitlane. This freakish occurrence was caused by a piece of debris hitting the master switch on the exterior of the car. Quick action by the WSR pit crew got him going again, but by that time he was out of contention.
Andy Neate:
“Overall I should be pleased with Croft as I had genuine race pace to challenge the Plato’s, Neal’s and my own team mate to boot. It’s a shame my pace didn’t reward the team and with some better fortune, I deserved results.”
“For the first time I genuinely lined up on the grid into race three thinking a podium was a realistic possibility, if it wasn’t for the first corner incident the WSR BMW was so strong in race trim I don’t doubt for a second we would have been in the mix for my first top 3 in the BTCC. Hopefully we can carry this progress onto Snetterto;, it’s a track that I’ve won on many times in the past so fingers crossed.”
Rob Collard:
“We started the weekend so well on Saturday – we were immediately quick in free practice and continued to improve the BMW, exploiting its full potential in qualifying.”
“We were very positive going into Sunday that we had a race-winning car and very nearly pulled it off in race one. Maybe at that point I should have just gone home!”
“In race two my strategy was to look after my tyres in the early laps then make my move for the lead. However, once again I was the innocent victim of other drivers’ actions. This is third event in a row that I have been taken out of a podium position in the second race of the day through no fault of my own. “
“It’s very frustrating, but we’ll regroup in the long break and look to maximise our results in the second half of the season.”
Dick Bennetts:
“It was a very frustrating weekend for the eBay Motors BMW team, as going into it we were confident of both drivers being right up there in the points.”
“Rob has now been taken out of four podium positions this season through absolutely no fault of his own.”
“Andy is continuing to improve and is now well capable of running consistently in the top ten. I’m sure he’ll score quite a few points in the second half of the season.”