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Team sunshine.co.uk with Tech-Speed Motorsport produced a stunning performance in the second rounds of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton, with a first top six finish of the season at the Hampshire circuit.
The weekend marked the first time that the team had run two cars this season, with former Vauxhall factory driver Paul O'Neill making his debut for the Honda squad alongside Barrow-upon-Humber racer Martyn Bell.
Despite being out of the BTCC for some time, Paul was on the pace from the outset and qualified in an impressive sixth place on the grid, having been as high as fourth until the closing stages of the session.
In the opening race he secured the team's best finish so far with a fine fifth place, and was again running in the top six when he was involved in an incident with Jason Plato and Adam Jones in race two, which saw his car spin off at the Complex. However, Paul battled back to secure tenth place, which rewarded him with pole for race three when the reverse grid draw took place.
A slow start saw Paul slip back to third, but he was soon in his stride and battled ahead of Adam Jones for second place before starting to hunt down Mat Jackson for the lead. Paul was closing in when the Safety Car was deployed for an accident involving John George, but his hopes of a popular win disappeared when he suffered a puncture shortly after the restart and was forced to retire.
“The only way the weekend could have been better is if there had been a trophy in the awning at the end of it,” he said. “I've won races before, but the team hasn't and I really tried to repay them for the chance they have given me. Sunshine.co.uk, Tech-Speed and Martyn have all worked hard to get me out there and I wanted to win for them.
“In race one, I was a bit annoyed with myself for not trying to get past Turkington, but I was looking at the bigger picture and didn't want to risk it. In race two, I didn't panic after the incident with Plato and Jones, got back up to tenth and the draw worked in our favour.
“In the final race, I was catching Mat and I honestly think we would have won that race without the Safety Car. We're not sure yet what caused the puncture but I think we might have lost some tyre pressure behind the Safety Car. because when it went in and I was preparing for the restart, the car started to understeer and I knew we were in trouble. I had to defend but the tyre went and that was it. However, we can't have our heads down as we did everything we could have done as a team and we did everything right. Plus, we also got some fantastic coverage for sunshine.co.uk and all our sponsors.”
Team-mate Martyn started from 15th on the grid and enjoyed a solid run in the opening race to finish in 13th, once again ahead of the new Honda Civic of David Pinkney and just behind the BMW of Jonathan Adam.
Martyn followed that up with 14th in race two after another long battle with Pinkney but saw his hopes of a top ten finish in race three hit by a high-speed spin at Church after running over debris left by a rival driver.
He battled his way pack up the pack and took the flag in 13th place, but was later demoted a place by race officials after contact with the Astra Coupe of Martin Johnson on the final lap.
“In the final race, I made a bit of a mistake on someone's debris and ran wide, which caused me to spin and I think I pushed a bit too hard trying to make up for it and tagged Martin Johnson at the Chicane,” he said. “I apologised to him afterwards and it's the first time I've been given my knuckles wrapped; but the punishment fitted the crime.
“I'm happy with my performance and the fact I went quicker at Thruxton than I have in the past, although I'm also a little disappointed not to have scored some more points as I feel I had a top ten car. For the team however, it was a great weekend. It's the first time the whole team has worked together and they were fantastic. We gained some brilliant exposure for all of our sponsors and that's great for them as we wouldn't be on the grid without their support.
“I was gutted for Paul to lose a podium in the final race, but the team has shown what it can do and we can be confident going forwards to Donington Park.”
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