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Monday, 17 July 2006 |
Solid Croft finishes for BMW racer
Barrow-upon-Humber racer Martyn Bell secured another three solid race finishes as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship reached the half-way point at Croft.
Martyn and the Geoff Steel Racing team made the short trip to the North East circuit buoyed by the performance displayed by the BMW 320i during summer testing, with the BTCC rookie admitting he was feeling more confident with the car than at any point during the season so far.
Qualifying saw Martyn down in 19th place on the grid after changes made to the gearbox didn’t work as expected but it meant that the BMW was able to keep out of trouble on the run down to Clervaux when the opening race of the weekend got underway.
During the race, Martyn battled with Turkish Touring Car Champion Erkut Kizilirmak – who had joined championship winning team VX Racing – before the high
temperatures took its toll on the BMWs tyres, with Martyn having to
settle for 16th place finish after a minor off-track excursion.
Race two saw Martyn again battling with his Independent rivals as he
held off Fiona Leggate to claim 15th place, while the final race of the
day – live on ITV1
- saw another 16th place finish for the BMW in front of bumper crowd of
‘Bellies Heroes’ who had packed the teams hospitality unit for the
weekend.
With problems having hit the team on numerous occasions through the
season, it was a happy Bell who left Croft to head home after a
relatively trouble-free weekend.
“I think the confidence we now have with the car isn’t reflected in the
results we achieved, we are oozing with confidence because the car is
coming to us,” he said. “I was a bit further back than I expected to be
in qualifying, but we made a few changes for the first race and I had a
really good battle with Erkut. We swapped places a few times but my
tyres went off like I’d flicked a switch. I felt like he was holding me
up from about lap six through to lap twelve but when I got past him,
the tyres just went.
“Whether it was because I’d been running off-line a little bit to get
past him, I don’t know, but it meant we had to make a bit of adjustment
for the second race which seemed to work and we made another adjustment
for the final race which worked even better. Croft was another good
step forward for us and we’ve got two circuits coming up next that we
know better than this one, so we can go racing there and hope to make
to make more progress.”
Prior to the weekend, Martyn had joined Fabrizio Giovanardi, Colin
Turkington and Mark Proctor in visiting Diggerland for a JCB race to
help promote the BTCC to a wider audience.
Although he had to settle for second place behind Italian Giovanardi,
Martyn said he was delighted to have been asked to take part in the
event.
“It’s good to promote the BTCC, which is arguably one of the biggest
and most competitive series in Europe, with events like that,” he said.
“I think the proof of how popular the series is, is in the size of the
crowds at Croft and the quality of racing throughout the weekend. You
can’t knock it and it is great value for money.
“If you think about it, people pay £20 to go and watch a football match
and it is over in 90 minutes but you can come to a BTCC meeting for the
same price and it’s a full day of action.”
Martyn wishes to thank all of his sponsors for their continued support,
including Holidaywatchdog.com, who joined the team prior to the Croft
weekend.
Next stop Donington Park on 30 July.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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