Andy Neate endured a frustrating weekend at the wheel of his IP Tech Race Engineering Chevrolet Cruze as he was forced to withdraw after the opening race at Rockingham.
“That’s one of those weekends where I really don’t know what to say,” explained the Team Owner of IP Tech Race Engineering.
“Heading to Rockingham we were really confident about what we could achieve and with the increased boost, we were keen to show people what the car is capable of on a level playing field. The electrical issue on Saturday put us on the back foot but I got away well when race one started and made up a few places before Deene.”
Having returned to the driving seat after sitting out the trip to Knockhill, Neate was confident of breaking into the points for the first time this season as the car had a boost level similar to others out on circuit.
An electrical issue in qualifying ahead of round 22 saw Neate finish 22nd fastest and he lined up 21st on the grid for the opening race.
Having made up positions from his starting position, Neate then got caught up in the weekend ending incident at Gracelands as he was unsighted and he ended up with severe front end damage to the front of the #44 Chevrolet Cruze.
“Someone then hit me meaning I lost those places again and then when I got to Gracelands, it all kicked off in front of me. I had nowhere to go and I can’t put into words how disappointing it is after everything the team has put into repairing the car after the damage we sustained at Knockhill. We’ll go away and regroup ahead of Silverstone,” Neate concluded.