British Touring Car Championship 2008

Motorbase shines in Oulton Park heat wave

Motorbase Performance was in the thick of the action in rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park on Sunday (27 July). As temperatures soared and 30,000 fans packed into the Cheshire venue, the team's pair of BMW 320sis, driven by Steven Kane and Rob Collard, again showed podium pace, with a fourth place topping the team's results.

"Saturday wasn't brilliant for us," said team boss David Bartrum. "We had not data for Oulton Park and hadn't tested there, so qualifying was our first opportunity to tune the car to the track. But Sunday was a great day and I couldn't ask for more from the drivers and the entire team.

"We went into the first race having changed the car overnight and it was mega," said Collard. "I got through to tenth behind Steven and had a really quick race car." After taking ninth in the first race of the day from 15th on the grid, Kane had a great result in the second race when he tigered through to fourth place

In round 20, Collard reported that the car felt very good, but he was sidelined by an unexplained engine failure. That left the Motorbase crew working flat out in the 30-degree heat to fit a spare engine in time for the third race. However, problems with a sensor prevented the engine from starting and the grid was formed up by the time Rob's car emerged from the garage.

Then, a delayed start when another car stalled played to his advantage and he was able to join the back of the grid as the field completed a second green flag lap. Rob then drove a superb race to fight through to eighth place and was catching Colin Turkington for seventh at the flag. "It's been an up and down day, but I was really pleased to finish the third race strongly. The guys have done a great job and the car was fantastic."

Kane, meanwhile, was put out of the last race by the over zealous driving of Tom Chilton at Knickerbrook on the first lap. "Chilton came from a long way back and I just happened to be in his line of travel. It was crazy and it cost the team a result. I had 48kg of ballast, but the car could definitely have been in the top five," said Kane.

"Rob's drive from the pit lane to eighth in the last race was a great achievement," said Bartrum. "And Steven went from 15th on the grid to fourth in two races. I'm very proud of both drivers and the whole team."

The team will be back in action for the next three races at Knockhill in Scotland on 16/17 August.

Other news reports: