Silverline Subaru BMR
Racing endured a challenging weekend at Donington Park for Rounds 4, 5 and 6 of
the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.
With the very small time frame
between Brands Hatch and Donington Park, the team was once again realistic
about using the opportunity to focus on developing the cars during the weekend
to make as much progress as possible with the new Subaru Levorg GT sports
tourers. With the cars having had very
little time out on track, each session is being used to learn about the cars to
make improvements in a bid to find the right set up to ensure that we move
forward to produce the best package possible.
Saturday’s qualifying
session looked to be a tricky one with a constant change in weather and
subsequent track conditions. Colin Turkington set the quickest time out of the
Subaru Levorg drivers setting the 11th fastest overall lap time of 1:14.160
followed by Warren Scott in 16th, James Cole 17th and Jason Plato 18th.
Race 1 saw Warren
involved in an incident with Ollie Jackson at Redgate, which fired them both
into the gravel. The race came to a dramatic end for the team after it was
eventually red-flagged following James’ Subaru Levorg catching fire as one of
the fuel ancillary systems failed. James escaped without injury with the
assistance of the marshals and fire crew, but unfortunately the car sustained a
great deal of damage putting an end to James’ weekend. Colin was once again the
quickest driver of the quartet finishing in 10th position and scoring points
for the team with Jason just out of the point scoring zone in 17th. Warren was able
to return to track after his earlier excursion and ended the race in 25th place.
Mat Jackson was handed the win ahead of Josh Cook and Tom Ingram.
Race 2 commenced with the
drivers lining up in the positions that they finished the previous race and, with
Colin being 10th on the grid, he was in for a chance of another top 10
position. Despite making a great start, unfortunately Colin sustained contact
on his right rear causing a puncture and sending him into the gravel. Warren finished 19th ahead of Jason in 20th. The
race was won by Rob Collard with Aron Smith and Gordon Shedden completing the
podium.
For
Race 3 Warren and Jason both started on row 10 of the grid in 19th and 20th
positions with Colin starting all the way down in 27th due to his earlier
non-finish. Despite his starting position, Colin progressed through the field
from the back of the grid making up an impressive nine places and finishing in
18th place, just behind Jason in 16th. Unfortunately Warren retired from the
race upon instruction from his pit crew following the same component failure
that was seen on James’ car in race 1. Matt Neal took the honours from Gordon
Shedden and Sam Tordoff.
Jason
Plato said:
“Donington proved to be very productive for Silverline Subaru
BMR Racing. We continue to gain valuable insight into the development of the
team’s Subaru Levorgs. We achieved a great deal this weekend, which will
accelerate our performance on track in the coming weeks. We know the areas we
need to improve upon and are working flat out to find solutions.
“I'm still confident that our target of challenging for
podiums will arrive before mid-season.
“Everybody at Silverline Subaru BMR Racing is up for the
challenge and is feeling a certain degree of inner calm that success is just
around the corner.”
Colin Turkington said: “We walk away from
Donington with a few more grey hairs, but with an abundance of information and
a deeper understanding of the Subaru Levorg. Changeable conditions on Saturday
provided a new set of challenges, but we coped remarkably well and my confidence
with the car is growing all the time.
“Having only completed a shakedown run with the cars since
the last event, I was happy to once again qualify just outside the top 10. I
enjoyed a typical BTCC battle in Race 1 and it was pleasing to bring the car
home in 10th position and score a few more championship points. An early
puncture ruined any chances of advancing in Race 2 but again in Race 3 I was
able to show the strengths of the car and progress through the field.
“It's onwards and upwards from here and I'm already looking
forward to getting back in the car at Thruxton. We know there is work to do to
close the gap to the front runners, but we have the people, skills and
experience to make that happen.”
James Cole said: “I came away from Donington with only positive thoughts
about the future with Team BMR and the Subaru Levorg. Despite our little
problem on Sunday we are starting to see the cars’ potential - this process
just takes time.
“Saturday was a very productive day for the team and me, I
enjoyed the mixed conditions of qualifying, and making the decision very early
to go from wet tyres to dry tyres on a damp track really showed the
cars handling strengths. It filled me with a lot of hope for the coming
rounds.
“I’m thankful to walk away with just a few singed hairs
after a scary Race 1.”
Warren Scott said: “We are pleased with the information that we
are getting from the cars despite it being a tricky weekend and only two weeks
after the launch of the Subaru Levorgs, and I am confident that we are showing
signs of real improvement.
“The general reliability
of the cars is very good and the future looks impressive for all of the
Silverline Subaru BMR Racing drivers. We
look forward to improving on the issues found to get the cars closer to the
front of the grid.”
Alan
Cole, Team Manager said: “We learned some valuable lessons at
Donington Park and the team did a great job despite it being a tough
weekend. We will continue to improve the
car as much as possible before Thruxton where we meet in just over two weeks’
time.”
Rounds 7, 8 and
9 of the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will take place at
Thruxton, Hampshire, on 7th and 8th May.
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