The six-week gap since the previous races allowed the VXR team to carry out some improvements in the Vauxhall Astra’s performance and Tom was optimistic after Saturday’s free practice showed a definite gain in the car’s performance over a race run;

“ The car is better now over a full race distance. The drop-off in lap times is closer to where we should be and that will hopefully make us more competitive here than we have been lately.”

In Qualifying the outright pace of the Astra looked to be good enough too with Tom heading the timesheets for most of the session. He set the fastest time early on and then improved again with a second run on new tyres. Now Tom played a waiting game, sitting calmly in the pits while others continued to try and better his time;

“ I wanted to keep some of the new tyres back for the races and decided that whatever anyone else did, I wasn’t going to go back out so it was quite a nail-biting final few minutes there.”

With the clock ticking down to the end of the session Tom was looking good. Other drivers went for more runs, using up their allocation of new rubber, but they couldn’t better Tom’s time. Nobody improved until, with just under a minute of qualifying remaining, James Thompson put in a flyer and just beat Tom by less than a tenth of a second. Tom was still pleased though;

“ I’m quite surprised to be on the front row to be honest. I really wanted to keep back a set of tyres and I’ve got those in hand now for the races. Thompson went a fraction quicker than me, but we’re all really pleased that the outright pace of the Astra is good now and starting from the front row will give me a good chance tomorrow.”

The first race started well, the first lap saw Tom settle in behind pole starting Thompson and ahead of his team mate Fabrizio Giovanardi. This was how it stayed for the first 6 laps, then Tom started to close the gap to the SEAT in front. Little by little he was reeling Thompson in and pulling away from the following pack. Tom’s Astra was the fastest car on the track through lap 7, 8 and 9 some half a second quicker than the leader. Then disaster. Suddenly Tom slowed;

“ At first I thought it was a puncture, but after trying to hang on for a lap I realised it was a bit more serious than that. “

Tom had to pit and the team discovered that broken rear suspension had robbed him of a good result.

“ That is so disappointing for everyone. It would have been at least second. I think I would have caught Thompson, I don’t know if I would have been able to pass him but I was catching him and the Astra was definitely a lot quicker over the first half of the lap so who knows. I deliberately took it fairly easy on the first six laps to look after the tyres and things were starting to look good. Obviously I’m really disappointed, but the good thing is the improvement that we’ve found in race performance. The tyre degradation isn’t as bad now; the team have improved that a lot. “

Tom’s retirement from race 1 meant starting from the back of the grid in 19th place for race 2 and a real challenge to try and get into the top ten for the final race of the day. It started well enough, a good getaway and at the end of the first lap Tom was 15th. Lap two – 13th, lap four – 11th, but now it was harder.

Tom spent several laps trying to find a way past Mike Jordan and Eoin Murray who were busy with their own scrap over 10th place. A great move by Tom round Hawthorn bend got him past Jordan and then at the final hairpin Tom out-braked Murray to end the lap ahead of both of them in 9th place. The gap was quite large to the next group in front and it seemed this was as far as Tom’s charge would take him. A bit of luck on the last lap though saw Pinkney’s Honda Integra have engine trouble and Tom crossed the line in 8th place.

Tom now watched in anticipation as the draw was made for the reverse grid for the final race. Luck was not on Tom’s side now as number 6 was drawn, meaning only the top six would be reversed and Tom would have to start in his finishing position, 8th on the grid.

He couldn’t make up any places at the start of the race and ended the first lap still in 8th place. On the second lap Tom got past James Kaye to claim 7th, but realised he had a problem;

“ I didn’t know what it was but the car wouldn’t turn left without me putting on loads of steering lock and under braking the car just wanted to swap ends. It made it very difficult to drive and I certainly wasn’t going to be able to lap quick enough to challenge anyone.”

Realising this, Tom allowed team mate Fabrizio past, dropping a place. On the same lap though Gavin Smith spun out of 2nd position and so Tom remained in 7th place.

There was nothing else Tom could do except try and hang on. For the last six laps he struggled with the problem lapping nearly two seconds off his normal race pace. On lap 12 Gordon Sheddon ran off the track at Tower corner promoting Tom to 6th and there he stayed to the chequered flag.

“ That was a real shame. I was so looking forward to that race because I had the new set of tyres we had saved from qualifying and really though I could have had a good result. It’s very frustrating to have problems with the car twice in one weekend. I’ve got to look ahead though and I’m still positive especially as we seem to have overcome the difficulties that we had earlier in the season. The car felt really good this weekend before the problems and I think our race pace has improved enormously. So I am positive about going to Donington, I love the track there and I think it will suit the Astras. “

The next rounds of the BTCC at Donington take place in two weeks time.