It was a ‘mixed bag’ weekend for WSR drivers Sam Tordoff and Rob Collard at Snetterton, as the pair could only manage a trio of top ten finishes in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) races in Norfolk.
Collard bore the brunt of the team’s misfortune, being taken out by team-mate Tordoff in the opening race. Collard had got off to a better start than Tordoff, but was collected in the left-rear as the field bunched up for the opening turn. It left Collard out of the race and at the back for race two, and Tordoff outside the top ten.
Collard was then taken out of race two as well, although he was able to salvage points with a tenth-place finish in race three, whilst Tordoff salvaged a pair of top-five finishes in the final two races.
“Overall it was obviously a difficult day for me,” said Collard, who dropped to tenth in the drivers’ standings as a result. “To be taken out of two races was particularly frustrating but the WSR boys did a great job to repair the car and give me something I could challenge with in the final race. I was able to enjoy that race at least as we finally made some clean moves through the order and take home some hard earned points.
“It will be all-out attack at Knockhill where I’ve had plenty of success in the past, so I’ll be going for the top step that’s for sure.”
Tordoff was apologetic for the incident with Collard in the opening race, and revealed he was reasonably pleased with the weekend’s results at a circuit which wasn’t expected to play to the strengths of the rear-wheel drive BMW.
“It has been a bit of a mixed bag in some ways, but we’ve scored some really good points and maintained fourth in the championship,” said Tordoff. “That was important to do at a circuit that isn’t our forte, as we now move on to Knockhill, and we should go well there.
“The incident with Rob in race one was very unfortunate and for which I’ve apologised, but it was onwards and upwards from that point with everyone at Team JCT600 with GardX doing a fantastic job.”
Tordoff retains fourth overall in the driver’s points as a result of his points at the weekend, although the gap to the championship leader has now increased and the Yorkshireman is 39 points adrift of the lead.