At DoningtonSaloon-car sensation Jonathan Fildes could be forgiven for never wanting to return to Donington Park after the most luckless weekend imaginable during the ninth and 10th rounds of the 2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship.Beset with problems from the off, the 31-year-old from Co.Meath endured troubles ranging from brake failure at high speed to a complete lack of grip from his Pirelli tyres and his bid for a brace of good results wasn’t helped any by some errant driving by rival Tim Bevan in both 14-lap encounters.Thanks to superb support from key sponsors Asgard Taverns, Applied Signs & Display, Atari Expo and AM Speedsport, the Irishman was able to replace the engine which was damaged at Croft two weeks ago but as soon as one problem was solved, another reared its head to put Jonathan firmly on the back-foot throughout the weekend.After running well in the first of two test sessions in Friday, Jonathan’s streak of bad luck quickly returned in qualifying but even though hampered by terrible brake problems he still worked wonders to qualify sixth on the grid for round nine and fifth on the grid for round 10 in his Total Control Racing-run SEAT.With both races taking place on Sunday, Jonathan was hoping to end the weekend with a pair of good finishes to move further up the driver standings but he ended up stranded alongside the pitwall after just one racing lap in round nine, the aforementioned Bevan spearing him on the exit of the chicane after a hugely over ambitious move.“At the start I could see Carl Breeze banging wheels with Neil Waterworth and I didn’t want to get involved in any damage so I backed out of it a little bit to try and get a good run down through the Craner Curves”, explained Jonathan.“Bevan came down my inside at the Old Hairpin but I managed to keep him at bay. As we went under the Dunlop Bridge though and towards the chicane at the end of the first lap, I braked early enough to take a good line through the corner but Bevan took a banzai move – I don’t know where he thought he was going.“He went straight across the grass, across the grass again, and at this stage I was already committed to the corner on the racing line. I started to exit the chicane on my line and then I saw Bevan coming straight for me and there was nothing I could do.”The resulting damage to Jonathan’s front, right wheel, his brake callipers and his suspension uprights was the last thing the Irish star needed so fingers were crossed for a less chaotic round 10.Again though, Jonathan’s race was effectively over before it began as he was forced to pit at the end of the green flag lap fearing a problem with the earlier damaged front, right-hand wheel. As the rest of the grid headed for Redgate on the opening lap, Jonathan rejoined the track several seconds adrift of the tail of the field but by lap three he had closed the gap completely and started to seek a move through the order.After passing Mike Doble for 11th on the third lap, Jonathan moved into the top 10 fairly soon after with a good move on Lewis Carter. By this point, the 2003 Renault Clio Cup Champion had reeled in Richard Dawson and after taking ninth position from him, Jonathan came up to pass his nemesis Bevan.As his rival weaved to block, Jonathan unfortunately dropped a wheel into the gravel at Coppice and fell to the tail of the field. He did mount a strong push during the closing stages, setting the fifth fastest lap of the race, and just missed out on the top 10 at the flag by two 10ths of a second.Reflecting on a luckless weekend, a frustrated Jonathan commented: “We have had some luck this weekend, but unfortunately it’s been all bad! It’s been one problem after another for us and then when the car was running reasonably well in the second race I had awful problems with Tim Bevan weaving as he tried to keep me behind.“I was definitely quicker than him but there was nothing I could do and I certainly didn’t want to risk getting any damage. I just hope we can get everything sorted out for Snetterton as I know, everything being equal, we should be on the podium.”The next two rounds of the championship will take place at Snetterton in Norfolk a fortnight from now on 12th/13th August.2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship Provisional Driver Standings (after rounds 9&10):1st Mat Jackson, 154pts; 2nd Ben Winrow, 122pts; 3rd Alan Blencowe, 115pts;7th Jonathan Fildes, 70pts