WSR endured a frustrating Saturday as the British Touring Car Championship resumed at Thruxton, Hampshire.
Drivers Charles Rainford, Daryl De Leon and Lewis Gilbert were involved in the same incident at an early restart during the day’s Qualifying Race, leaving all three with damage that had a major effect on their respective results.
Charles, a race winner at each of the past two events, was dealt the harshest blow. After making up six places on the opening lap to lie on the fringes of the top 10, he was an innocent victim as the race was about to restart following a Safety Car period.
Forming up a slow speed as he prepared for the green flag, his BMW 330i M Sport was hit hard from behind and turned around as he passed pit entry, causing the Horsham racer to glance the wall and pit next time around for a precautionary check.
The time lost during this phase restricted him to a 17th-place result, which will also be the starting position on Sunday for the driver currently fourth in the points.
The contact Charles suffered caused the following group of cars to take evasive action. This included Daryl – who was unable to avoid contact with another car – and Lewis, who was unsighted in the melee and took a hit of his own.
The 22-year-old Scot – who is making his BTCC debut at Thruxton – suffered significant front-end damage and was forced to retire in the pits next time around.
Daryl, meanwhile, fought back with some style, climbing to 15th place by the finish aboard his BMW and ensuring an eighth-row starting position for Sunday’s opening race.
Daryl De Leon: “It’s been a day. It’s been good to get back into the swing of things after six or seven weeks away. Tomorrow’s a new day and I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Charles Rainford: “It’s not been one of our better days. We were in a decent window in practice, considering the amount of boost we have, so I was pretty content. Then I was impeded on my best qualifying lap, then hit a bump at Goodwood, which sent me off and meant I started further back than I wanted. I made up six places on the first lap, which was great, but it all unravelled when I was hit behind the safety car and spun round. Not an amazing day, but the team at WSR are making a lot of changes for tomorrow and I’m sure we can move forward. It’s going to be tough, but we’ll push on.”
Lewis Gilbert: “It’s been an eventful day. Qualifying was okay considering I’m still learning the car and the track, so we did the best we could with that. In the Qualifying Race there was an early safety car and as we got ready to go green there was an incident ahead of me and I just got caught up in it all. It was a bit of a shame for the result, but we still have three main races tomorrow to make up for it and I’m looking forward to it.”
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal: “It’s been a tough day today for all three drivers, none of whom deserved what happened in the race. Ultimately we’ve qualified further back than we should have, for a variety of reasons, and when that happens, you’re at a greater risk of being a victim of someone else’s mistake. That’s what happened to Charles and that triggered the incident that affected Daryl and Lewis. Hopefully we can avoid this tomorrow and move forwards.”
