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AllAboutProperty.com
driver prepares for season finale.
Barrow-upon-Humber racer Martyn
Bell will aim to end his second season in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car
Championship on a high this coming weekend as the series returns to Thruxton
for the final meeting of the year.
Martyn heads to Hampshire on the
back of his best result of the season last time out at Knockhill and will
hope to have more luck on his side than when the BTCC visited Thruxton back
in May – when an incident in the second race ended any chance he had of
scoring a top ten finish.
The meeting should mark
Martyn’s final race with the BMW 320i E46 that he has campaigned for
the past two seasons, with the focus being on upgrading to a new machine for
the 2008 season, and Martyn said he was keen to try and end his time with the
ex-WTCC machine with a solid weekend of racing.
“I feel good going into
the weekend,” he said. “It’s been a while since our last
race at Knockhill and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel.
“I’ve gone well at
Thruxton in the past and it’s the end of term, so I want to try and end
the season on a high. I’m going to run my own race in the mid-field,
try to stay on the train of cars in front and hopefully it can help us get
into the top-ten. In an ideal world, we’d like to get into the points
in the second race and then have the reverse grid go in our favour so we can
start the final round from the front of the grid.
“Looking to the future,
this is probably going to be my last race with the E46, but not my last race
in the BTCC. I suppose it’s the end of one chapter and the start of
another.”
Martyn added that he
wasn’t sure who will come out on top in the fight for the title between
Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi, admitting that he just hoped the battle
is decided on-track.
“I’m going to make
sure I don’t get involved with the drivers fighting for the
championship,” he said. “If they are coming up behind me then
I’ll get well out of the way. Both drivers have done well but I
don’t really care who wins the title between Jason and Fabrizio, as
long as it’s decided on the race track.”
Going into the final meeting of
the season, Martyn was boosted by the news that he has collected six tyres
from series sponsors Dunlop in the annual ‘Spirit of the
Championship’ awards – with Martyn and his team being given the
prize for battling adversity through the season to ensure that the BMW has
appeared at every meeting this year.
“I’m really
chuffed,” he said. “It’s nice that our efforts throughout
the season have been recognised in that way.”
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