Rounds 19, 20 and 21.

Motor racing is invariably a mixture of highs and lows and Tom's Scottish experience was certainly this; second fastest in free practice, qualifying second and a second place finish in race one was small consolation for being knocked out of both the other races……..more

Qualifying

A beautiful sunny day drew a large Saturday crowd to witness the spectacular sight of the Touring Car pack battling for pole position around the very challenging Knockhill track. Tom had high expectations after setting second fastest time in both the free practice sessions held in the morning.

Going out with all guns blazing, Tom was immediately fifth quickest, but he knew he could improve.

"I was over-driving to begin with and had to calm it down a bit. The first corner here is quite amazing - if you take too much kerb it launches you onto two wheels and the same happens at the chicane. I think that was losing me time though so I tried to be less spectacular and it paid off."

By the end of the half-hour session Tom was second fastest and had missed pole position by just 0.04s.  

"I'm very pleased with that, it's my first time on the front row. The car felt really good, we have made some improvements from Croft and it showed. The weather is very unpredictable here so it could be wet tomorrow, but that doesn't bother me, I like the wet and I like Knockhill in the rain."

Round 19

Sure enough the weather was very different on race morning. Thick fog delayed the start of the first race, but it was a dry track. Tom got away well from the staggered grid and held his second place for the first few laps. With barely a second covering the top six, Tom had his work cut out - initially putting pressure on leader Anthony Reid and then having to defend from Reid's team-mate Colin Turkington in the other MG. As Reid defended from Tom, Turkington and fourth place James Thompson in the Vauxhall, both took their opportunities to sneak past Tom's Honda Civic type R. Tom didn't panic though, he let them through and latched onto their bumpers, waiting for his chance. Turkington and Thompson were battling hard which allowed Reid to break away into a lead he would never lose. Turkington fought his way past Thompson to make it an MG one-two and then Tom made a great move on the ex-champion to take third place with eight laps still to go.

"That was a hard one. The MG's are very quick round here and I tried desperately to not let them get away. When they got clear I knew I had to pass Thompson quickly and I did it, but I couldn't catch the MG's. Still, third place is okay and it doesn't give me the really heavy ballast for the next race."

So Tom claimed his fifth podium in Touring Cars and was surprised to learn later that Turkington had been handed a time penalty for an infringement under yellow flags. This promoted Tom to second place and dropped the Irishman to fourth.

Round 20

With the amended result of race one, Tom would now line up in ninth place on the grid and after another good start was in the thick of it again. The same protagonists were battling it out again; Turkington, Thompson and Reid with Tom in the middle. This time though it was for seventh place as Tom got the better of Thompson and started to challenge the MG. Diving up the inside of Turkington, Tom thought he had made the move stick only to be hit hard up the back by Reid. This pushed Tom into the other MG and the double impact on the front of his Honda would prove terminal.

"I went for a gap up the inside of Turkington and the next thing I knew I was thumped hard and it was obvious some major damage had been done. The engine temperature shot up to well over 100 degrees and I had no choice but to bring the car into the pits. The team had a look at the damage and decided that I couldn't carry on. I'm really pissed off with Reid. He hit me hard at Croft two weeks ago as well. He's just out of order."

Indeed Tom's car was in a sorry state with major damage to the front and the wings, but it was the radiator, broken in the impact, that caused the over-heating and retirement.

Round 21

Tom found himself in familiar company at the back of the grid as Turkington and Thompson had also failed to finish the second race and the three of them lined up at the tail of the field. Tom's race would be short though as he explained afterwards;

"The first laps were pretty exciting with the three of us carving through the field together and I think I was up to ninth place. Then as I approached the chicane I could see Yvan Muller had gone off and was re-joining the track on the exit of the corner. He must have been unsighted or something because he just pulled back onto the track straight in front of me. There was nothing I could do, I tried to miss him but he hit me in the side and that was it, I was out on the spot with the rear suspension destroyed."

An incredibly frustrating end to the weekend after it had promised so much;

"I know that's the way it goes sometimes in motor racing, but that doesn't make me feel any better. The team has given me a fantastic car, one that I could have achieved great results with. But through no fault of mine I've come away with a second and two DNF's. Hopefully Brands Hatch will bring the results, the team certainly deserve better than this."

Those next rounds at Brands will be held in two weeks' time.

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