at wet Rockingham

Tom got his first podium of the 2008 season with an exciting drive to 2nd place in a soaking wet final race at Rockingham in the latest BTCC event…….

Difficult conditions in almost every session made the latest rounds of the BTCC a challenge for the teams as well as the drivers, but Tom came away from Rockingham having scored points in all three races.

The changeable weather played a major part in deciding car set up all weekend and as Team Halfords prepared for the half hour qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, a heavy shower made for difficult decisions. Tom opted to run a slightly softer set up than he had in testing, but the track dried out more than he had expected and he could only manage 8th place on the grid.

Sunday’s first race was also affected by rain, making the last four laps treacherous. Tom didn’t make the best of starts, dropping to 9th place at the end of the first lap, but got his Honda Civic quickly back up to 8th after passing Colin Turkington’s BMW on lap two. He managed to close up to 7th placed Jackson, but had to be wary of Plato who was challenging from behind. The positions stayed static until the end of the race, the downpour making it difficult enough just to stay on the track.

Starting race two from where he finished race one, in 8th place on the grid, Tom again slipped back to 9th after a slow getaway. By lap seven he had got a place back, passing Adam Jones and was battling with Matt Neal. Several times Tom managed to get alongside the Vauxhall driver, but couldn’t gain the advantage. Neal then had a coming together with Stephen Jelley forcing both of them off the track and promoting Tom in the process. The rain held off this time and Tom brought his Team Halfords Honda home in 7th place.

Heavy rain just before the start of the final race at least made it a certain decision to start on wet tyres and Tom got a great getaway this time, trying to take the lead as the field approached the first corner. He settled for 2nd place and held it up until the safety car had to be deployed after eight laps.

With the field bunched up now, Tom had a chance to challenge for the lead and he took it. A brave move down the inside into the Hairpin saw him pass Turkington’s BMW to lead the field. Two corners later however, it all appeared to go wrong as Tom slid wide on the exit, losing not only the lead, but dropping back down to 4th place.  With just three laps remaining Tom set about getting the places back and managed to take 3rd with a lap to go. The next target was Turkington again, who had fallen back behind new leader Matt Neal a few laps earlier. Tom got a great run down the straight and again managed to out-brake Turkington into the Hairpin. He held on around the final lap to take a deserved 2nd place and get on the podium for the first time as a Team Halfords driver.

Tom was obviously delighted with the result and explained how it had nearly all gone wrong;

“I was really struggling with misting up and when I got into the lead I couldn’t see a thing, misjudged the apex and slid off. I was lucky to keep it going and only drop down a few places. After that I kept having to wipe the windows with my hands and that helped a bit. It was great fun out there actually and I’m really pleased to have got a 2nd place for me and for the team.”

The next three rounds of the BTCC are at Donington Park on Sunday 4th May.