Toyota Avensis racer Simon Belcher departed Oulton Park Island Circuit on Sunday, 7th June, with mixed emotions after a somewhat frustrating return to action in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – just four weeks on from a near season-ending incident at Thruxton.
With question marks hanging over his participation at Oulton after his Handy Motorsport-run car sustained huge damage during qualifying for the previous event, a herculean effort by all involved ensured Belcher was indeed back on the grid this weekend and determined to make good progress.
After falling victim to contact in round 10, though, the Swindon racer then encountered troubles with major oversteer in rounds 11 and 12 which resulted in a sudden drop-off in pace. Ultimately ending the fourth event of the BTCC season with best finishes of 21st place in races two and three, Belcher concluded the meeting mildly exasperated after a rollercoaster journey in recent weeks.
“After all of the incredible hard work done to make sure we were at Oulton this weekend, it is a bit disappointing not to come away with better results but I do want to say again how grateful I am for the amazing job everyone has done”, said the Handy driver, “It’s been a massive effort to get the car rebuilt in time, it really is testament to such a fantastic level of team-work.”
Belcher’s involvement this weekend was unconfirmed up until the eleventh hour, but an immense effort by Speedworks Motorsport – the engineering strength behind the Handy squad – enabled the rebuilt Toyota to be ready for a six lap shakedown at Donington Park on Thursday evening.
Travelling direct from the Leicestershire track to Oulton, Belcher was hungry to be back behind the wheel competitively and he enjoyed a productive opening free practice on Saturday, 6th June, with the 19th fastest time. After posting the 22nd best lap in session two, he then went on to qualify 23rd on the grid for the weekend’s first race.
Opting to use the ‘Soft’ Dunlop tyre compound in round 10, the Webb Garden Power Equipment and KÄRCHER-backed driver was confident of a strong run but any hope of a climb through the order was curtailed on lap two at the hairpin.
After passing Alex Martin on the inside line, Belcher was pitched into a spin by the Ford Focus driver at the exit. Losing the Toyota racer a significant amount of time, he tried to mount a recovery and circulated up to eight tenths of a second faster per lap than the Infiniti Q50 of Derek Palmer ahead during the latter stages. In the end, though, he had to settle for 23rd position.
Beginning round 11 from 25th on the grid, Belcher made good early progress and was happy with the performance of his Toyota as he moved to the cusp of the top 20 over the first six laps. From the midway point, though, sudden oversteer proved a serious handful and meant the Wiltshire racer had to wrestle his car to the finish in 21st place.
More of the same occurred in round 12 with a carbon-copy of the oversteer woes halfway through, leading to another 21st position and a disappointing conclusion to the event. All attention now turns to the BTCC’s visit to Croft in North Yorkshire at the end of the month, where Handy Motorsport aims to sign-off the first half of the season with a positive series of results.
“I had a good start to race two, much better than race one, and I was on the back of the midfield chasing pack”, reflected Belcher, “Halfway through the race, though, it was just like somebody had flicked a switch as the back of the car got really loose on turn-in. It compromised my entry speed into every corner virtually, and then we had the same issue in race three.
“We need to get to the bottom of that for Croft, in race one the car felt really good so it’s a bit confusing. I’m looking forward to Croft, we’re confirmed for that and then it’s a question of finances and what we can do for the rest of the season as the rebuild put a big hole in our budget. We might have to look at putting another driver in the car for some races to help balance the books.”
Belcher added: “It’s been disappointing this weekend but more so because of the massive effort from the guys at Speedworks, Willie Poole Motorsport and Alsa Automotive. For 18 days the car was away having the shell repaired, it was a massive job and there was extensive damage, so to have been at Oulton at all this weekend was a bit of a triumph really.”
There is now a three week break in the BTCC calendar with rounds 13, 14 and 15 taking place at Croft near Darlington in North Yorkshire over the weekend 27th/28th June.
2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC Drivers Championship (after Rd12): 22nd Simon Belcher, 1pt
2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC Independents Trophy (after Rd12): 15th Simon Belcher, 20pts
2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC HiQ Teams Championship (after Rd12): 14th Handy Motorsport, 3pts
2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC Independents Team Trophy (after Rd12): 10th Handy Motorsport, 53pts
