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Early End To Qualifying For Thruxton Rookie Kiziliemak |
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Sunday, 06 May 2007 |
Turkish racer Erkut Kizilirmak will start tomorrow’s seventh round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship from the 11th row of the grid after seeing his involvement in qualifying at Thruxton today cut short due to an unfortunate collision.
The 37-year-old from Istanbul, making his first ever appearance at the Hampshire venue having never had the opportunity to previously test there, enjoyed a solid start to the day in his Arkas Racing Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch, ending this morning’s opening free practice session inside the top 20.
Maintaining the position during the second practice, albeit with a time
a full second faster than he managed during the day’s first outing,
Erkut did look very well placed to move further up the order as this
afternoon’s 30-minute qualifying session unfolded.
Having posted a quickest lap of 1m 21.630 seconds (103.89mph) during
the first half of the session to move into 14th place, the Thruxton
rookie was then involved in contact on his 11th lap as he attempted to
negotiate a way past Simon Blanckley at the complex.
Bidding to pass Blanckley’s Honda Integra in order to make himself some
space for an attempt at a quicker lap time, Erkut was unsighted to the
presence of VX Racing’s Tom Chilton and the pair made contact – Chilton
a total innocent.
The result saw Erkut collide with the retaining wall at Segrave and
although the Turkish star is frustrated he made a mistake which
ultimately proved to be costly regarding his qualifying position, he is
confident tomorrow’s three races will bring much better fortune.
“It’s very disappointing qualifying was so short-lived and I do feel
bad for Tom as the collision was totally my fault”, commented Erkut,
“Up to that point things were going well, we improved during every
session today and I know there is more to come from me.
“I have to say, my car was perfect today and the team did a great job.
I’m sorry they have a lot of work to do tonight to get the car repaired
for tomorrow’s races but the guys at Tech-Speed do a fantastic job and
I know everything will be ok.”
Leamington Spa-based Tech-Speed Motorsport is, of course, the
experienced saloon car team headed by Marvin Humphries which prepares
and runs Erkut’s BTC-spec Vauxhall Astra under the Arkas Racing banner.
Rounds seven, eight and nine of the BTCC season will take place
tomorrow, Sunday, 6th May, at 10.55, 13.45 and 16.50 respectively and
will be broadcast live on digital satellite and cable subscription
channel Setanta Sports 2. Freeview, digital satellite and cable
broadcaster ITV3 will also screen live action from round nine and
highlights from the two earlier races at 16.00 tomorrow afternoon.
Provisional Dunlop MSA BTCC Independents Trophy Standings (after Rd6)
1st Mat Jackson, 58pts; 2nd Mike Jordan, 47pts; 11th Erkut Kizilirmak, 12pts
Provisional Dunlop MSA BTCC Independents Team Trophy Standings (after Rd6)
1st Team RAC, 67pts; 2nd Jacksons Motorsport, 60pts; 8th Arkas Racing, 18pts
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