The quartet of Toyota drivers had differing fortunes at Thruxton, as Dave Newsham and Adam Morgan secured points in all three races while Frank Wrathall and Ollie Jackson struggled.
For Newsham in the Speedworks Motorsport Avensis, it was the first time he had secured a trio of points finishes since joining the team. He secured his best finish of the day in the opening race as he brought the #17 Avensis home 8th.
He went on to finish 12th and 9th in the other two races of the weekend to head into the five week break before Oulton lying 12th in the Championship.
“The three finishes is the only thing to take from today,” commented the Inverness based racer. “We just haven’t been able to get a handle on the car’s handling on certain parts of the track, and overall it’s been a bit poor.”
Team-mate Ollie Jackson finished just outside the points in the opening two encounters before a retirement in race 3 due to a spin which destroyed his tyres.
Leading Toyota driver in the Championship, Adam Morgan in the Ciceley Racing car, continued his run of points scores as he secured another three top 15 finishes around the high speed Thruxton circuit.
He started the weekend off with a 10th place finish – his first non top 7 finish of the season – before improving to 8th in the second race, having clawed his way back from 20th having gone off the track on the opening lap.
“The first lap was just a case of three into two wouldn’t go and I was forced wide. However, the Toyota felt really good and I knew I could push to make up places, although I didn’t expect to get up that high,” explained Morgan.
“I thought I could possibly catch the train ahead and the Safety Car helped, but I was surprised to be able to not only get ahead of them, but to pull away. I’m really pleased with the end result.”
His 8th in race two left him on the front row for the final race of the day – and he led the early stages until he made a mistake at Church and had to pit to get the air intake cleared of grass.
He fought back to finish 12th, having taken the position on the final lap. His results see him seventh in the overall drivers’ Championship and 2nd in the Independent drivers’ trophy.
“I carried a bit too much speed into Church and just went off and over the grass,” added Morgan about his race 3 off. “I knew it was a problem the minute I went off – the temperature went up and I had to stop so they could clear the grass out of my air intake. It’s annoying, but I’ve learned a valuable lesson.”
Frank Wrathall in the Dynojet Toyota had another weekend full of issues. Having been the best placed Toyota in qualifying; his only points finish came in the opening race where he brought the car home 15th.
He finished race 2 down in 19th having had to pit for the grass to be cleared from his radiator after an excursion to the grass while race 3 saw Wrathall stop before the race had got going.
“It’s been a weekend to forget,” summed up a downbeat Wrathall.