Tom had a tough time in Yorkshire, only able to claim 7th and 8th place finishes after a driveshaft failure robbed him of a certain podium finish in the second of the day’s 3 races

Tom’s first DNF of the season bought an excellent drive to a premature end in the second race and the chance of a good result in the third, as his retirement forced a 15th place starting position for the final race.

“I lost out on a lot of points this weekend. Effectively, it was two podiums, one in the second race when my car failed and potentially one in the third race because I would have started much higher up the grid if the second race had gone my way.” As it turned out, Tom had to settle for 7th and 8th place finishes in Sunday’s tough encounters.Up until this point in the season, Tom had been competing in the team’s test chassis and was looking forward to Croft as the VXRacing team had supplied him with a newly built race chassis. The free practice sessions on Saturday morning gave the team the opportunity to fine tune the new car and Tom immediately put in strong performances, setting 5th and 4th fastest times in the two sessions, but qualifying was not so good. Tom finished the session 11th overall and felt he had not got the best out of his Vectra;

“That should have been a lot better. I pushed a little too hard and we tried a slightly different set up from this morning and maybe, with hindsight, we should have left it. Also I had to avoid the tyres which had been scattered at the chicane on my best lap and that cost me some time. I would not have been on pole, but I should be starting higher than 11th.”

Tom managed to avoid the inevitable incidents in the first race to stay out of trouble and take an 8th place finish. That improved his grid position for the second race to the 4th row and from there, Tom had a chance of a good result.

His charge up through the field was typically impressive and with only 2 laps remaining, Tom was challenging Mike Jordan for 3rd place. As he dived to the inside in the complex and past Jordan for the place, his Vectra’s driveshaft let go and Tom’s race was over.

In the 9 races held so far this season, Tom had scored points in every race and so his first DNF was a bitter disappointment;

 “I thought that was going to be the start of getting this weekend back on course for a lot of points but it wasn’t to be. It is bad enough when the car fails at any time, but when it robs you of a podium and the points that brings, it is a double blow.”

The third race was always going to be hard with a start so low down the field, but Tom was determined to make the most of it and he stormed through the field to a 7th place finish. That was as good as he could have hoped for and certainly his lap times in the race showed what could have been. The VXRacing team have got the Vectra sorted and Tom’s set up adjustments were spot on which was some consolation for the lack of points scored at Croft;

 “I’m upset about that, but we ended up changing stuff on the car and it went a lot better. We were struggling at the beginning of the meeting but at the end, I was right there with Matt Neal and I was reeling them back in; that’s a really good positive to take away. I’m just going to keep doing what I do; eat, sleep and breathe motorsport. Obviously I’m going to be chatting to the team quite a lot about this weekend before Oulton Park, but I’m really looking forward to getting out again. I like anywhere I can race a car and Oulton Park is no exception.”The next rounds of the BTCC at Oulton Park in Cheshire will take place on the 24th June.