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Team sunshine.co.uk with Tech-Speed Motorsport will look to make the most of a bumper following at Oulton Park this weekend as the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Cheshire for the fourth round of the year.
Barrow-upon-Humber racer Martyn Bell will take part in his 100th BTCC race over the course of the weekend, while Widnes team-mate Paul O'Neill will be competing in a touring car on home soil for the first time since the 2003 campaign, and is expected to bring plenty of home support into the event.
Bell, who made his debut in the BTCC back in 2006, has enjoyed his strongest start to a touring car season to date this year and already has two top ten finishes under his belt after the opening nine races.
At the venue where he enjoyed his best ever qualifying result – taking third on the grid in a rain-affected session during his debut season – Bell will now hope to bounce back from the bad luck he endured at Donington Park to break back into the points.
Race one on Sunday will be the historic moment when he contests his 100th race, a feat he will share with double champion Fabrizio Giovanardi.
“Hopefully there will be a lot of sunshine at Oulton Park for my 100th BTCC race,” he said. “I'm sharing the honour with Fabrizio this weekend and while he's had a bit more success than me, it's a fantastic achievement to reach that landmark and it's something I'm very proud of.
“With it being Paul's home race, we are counting on a lot of support, and hopefully the locals will adopt me and the rest of the Sunshine.co.uk team as well and help give us a big lift. We didn't have luck on our side at Donington last time out but Oulton Park is my favourite circuit on the BTCC calendar and it should suit the Integra. I believe I can get into the top eight or top ten, and that is a realistic goal for the weekend.”
Team-mate O'Neill has fond memories of Oulton Park after securing his maiden BTCC win on home soil back in 2002 during his time with the Egg Sport team.
Having shown impressive pace at both Thruxton and Donington Park already this season, O'Neill will now hope to make the most of his home support to challenge for the team's first podium finish of the year.
“I'm really, really looking forward to this weekend,” he said. “I've wanted to race a touring car again at Oulton Park for so long, and there is nothing better than going into your home race knowing you have a good car and a good team behind you. We know that we have a good package and hopefully our recent bad luck is behind us. We should be fighting in the top six and if we can get onto the podium, it would be the ideal was to repay the fantastic effort everyone has put in so far.
“I got the first win of my career at Oulton Park so there are already great memories for me and the home support will be an extra lift; you are always at your best when you're in front of a home crowd.
“It's a big statement to make, but I feel that Sunshine.co.uk with Tech-Speed are one of the top three teams out there and we have shown that we can get our rivals worried. When we are taking the fight to teams like RML, who have pedigree in the WTCC, then we know we are doing a good job.” | |
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