 Martyn heads into Real Radio Hairpin |
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Barrow-upon-Humber racer Martyn Bell endured a tough weekend at Knockhill as the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship made its annual trip to Scotland.
Martyn went into the event looking to continue the form that had seen him score points three times at the Fife circuit in the past two years, but it proved to be a more challenging weekend for the Arkas Racing with Sunshine.co.uk driver in the eighth round of the year.
Flying the flag alone for the Tech-Speed run team, Martyn qualified 21st on the grid but his first race came to an early end when contact from the SEAT Toledo of Chris Stockton at Carlube Corner fired Martyn off into the tyre wall and into retirement.
With the team repairing the car in time for race two, Martyn focused on bringing home a finish and took the flag in 18th place and he matched his result in race three after coming out on top of a battle with the Honda Integra of John George in the closing stages.
“I was really cross with Chris after the incident in the first race,” Martyn admitted. “He came up to me to apologise afterwards and you could say it is one of those things that happens, but there was no room there for him to try and make a pass.
“I focused on getting a finish in the second race as it was important to get to the chequered flag and I enjoyed the final race. There was a bit of a battle with John at the Hairpin and he tried to lean on me coming out of the corner, but I wasn't going to let him past and he ended up having a bit of a spin.”
Unfortunately, Martyn just missed out on adding to his Independents' points tally during the weekend and will now hope for more luck as the series heads to Silverstone for the penultimate meeting of the year.
“The results in Scotland certainly didn't reflect the amount of effort put in by everyone and it was a tough weekend,” he said. “We weren't the only ones in the wars though; Micky Doyle didn't manage to finish a race in his home round. Unfortunately we just weren't quite quick enough but we'll regroup and hope for more luck at Silverstone.” | |
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