Simon Belcher, team principal of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship squad Handy Motorsport, will make a welcome return to the driving seat of his Toyota Avensis at Silverstone next weekend, 26th/27th September, after spending the past three events on the racing sidelines.
Stepping aside from competitive action for budgetary reasons at the halfway point of the season, following an expensive rebuild of the Toyota which was required following a high-speed collision during qualifying at Thruxton, the Swindon businessman is now raring to go for the final six races of the BTCC campaign – starting with the visit to the home of the British Grand Prix a week from now.
During the interim period, which included visits to Snetterton, Knockhill and Rockingham, American racer Robb Holland stood in for Belcher and achieved a best result of 14th position – matching his previous career best – and the team made good progress with overall competitiveness.
Belcher, himself a top 15 finisher in only his second season of touring car action, is now determined to conclude the current campaign in the UK’s biggest and most popular motor racing championship with a real flourish, starting at Silverstone’s 1.64-mile National Circuit a week from now.
“Silverstone can’t come soon enough”, said the Webb Garden Power Equipment and KÄRCHER backed driver, “It’s been a great experience focusing on the team management for the last few events, and really good working with Robb [Holland], but I’ve missed the racing so can’t wait to be back behind the wheel.
“We definitely made some good steps forward with the car over the last couple of events, having a different perspective from another driver with BTCC experience was definitely a positive thing and we’re now hoping to build further on that at Silverstone and then at Brands Hatch next month.”
During last season’s visit to Silverstone National in his debut BTCC campaign, the Wiltshire driver’s weekend was set back by race one contact but he still achieved three important finishes. One year on, Belcher is targeting a hat-trick of Independents Trophy points scores and will also be bidding to break back into the overall top 15 for the first time since the opening race meeting of the season.
“Even though I’ve been on the sidelines for nine races, we’re still in a pretty tight battle in the Independents Trophy standings so I’m hoping to make up some ground there”, said Belcher, “I think we should be in pretty good shape really, the car has been working well and there’s determination in the whole team to end the season with a bit of a flourish.”
Opening free practice for the BTCC will begin the Silverstone track action at 09.30 on Saturday, 26th September, with session two following at 12.35 ahead of qualifying at 15.45. All three races will take place on Sunday, 27th September, with round 25 starting at around 11.55, round 26 at 14.30 and round 27 at approximately 17.15 – each contest will be screened live on ITV4 and ITV4 HD.
2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC Drivers Championship (after Rd24): 27th Simon Belcher, 1pt
2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC Independents Trophy (after Rd24): 20th Simon Belcher, 29pts
2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC HiQ Teams Championship (after Rd24): 14th Handy Motorsport, 5pts
2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC Independents Team Trophy (after Rd24): 9th Handy Motorsport, 125pts
