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‘Ecstatic’ Sibsport Celebrate First British Touring Car Championship Point |
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007 |
Simon Blanckley - owner/driver of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship team sibsport - achieved his first championship point at Rockingham Motorsport Speedway last Sunday (22nd April) in only his second ever event in his debut season in the series.
Following a triple finish at Brands Hatch three weeks earlier, sibsport were aiming to get nearer to the top ten at Rockingham as the team continued to focus on gradual progression.
Despite having to fit a new engine due to a failure in race one which
meant he couldn’t compete in race two, Blanckley made it onto the grid
for race three – round 6 of the series. Blanckley’s calm driving style
meant he avoided the usual chaos that is common in BTCC race starts and
by the end of the first lap he had moved his Honda Integra up from 21st
on the grid to 17th. As Blanckley kept out of trouble, others in front
of the Durham driver were having problems. Having overtaken several of
his rivals, Blanckley made his way up to 13th by lap 9, when the safety
car was deployed. This caused the field to close up and a few laps
later, Blanckley found himself in 11th place, just over a second behind
Turkish driver Erkut Kizilirmak in his Vauxhall Astra. Determined to
achieve the team’s first point and put behind him the disappointment of
the first two races earlier in the day, Blanckley hunted down the
Vauxhall and made the pass on lap 13. He stayed in 10th to claim the
last championship point, a result that his team were elated with as he
passed the chequered flag. Blanckley’s consistency throughout the last
race of the day – lapping in the mid 1 minute 27 seconds bracket – was
also crucial to his result.
Round 7, 8 and 9 of the BTCC calendar are at the super-fast Thruxton
circuit in Hampshire, close to the historic site of Stonehenge, on May
6th. Following the conclusion of that race, Simon Blanckley will then
visit his local track of Croft for the next event of the championship
on June 3rd.
Team Quotes
Simon Blanckley, Owner/Driver
“The result in round 6 was really great for the team. The guys put so
much effort in to get me out for that race. In the first race (round
4) I had a coming together with Chris Stockton (Lexus) which broke the
anti-roll bar. I kept going, although the car felt like it was
steering from the rear. Then towards the end of the race we had an
engine failure.
“The fact that the team changed the engine in just a few hours was
incredible. The bigger teams can manage it, but for a small
independent team to get it done so fast is a real credit to the
engineering expertise of Graham Hathaway Engineering and Neil Brown
Competition Engines.”
“The way the day finished was really positive. It is amazing, scoring
my first BTCC point in only my second event. I really wasn’t expecting
it!”
Graham Hathaway, Team Manager
“A really good result in the final race. My guys did an amazing job
with the engine change – it’s not an easy procedure. It really shows
their commitment and professionalism.”
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