Silverware at Silverstone!
I’m very pleased to have come away from the weekend with a podium for Airwaves BMW. We seem to have only won or not been on the podium this year, so to get a second is good for the team after the bad two meetings we’ve had previously.
To be honest, I’m a little bit disappointed with the weekend as a whole. We showed a lot of pace yesterday and we were P2 in qualifying but we didn’t quite unlock the potential of the car in race one. P6 was good but I think we could have done better.
The BM has a lot of pace but it’s a car that’s so hard to find the ultimate balance and pace. We either find it or we don’t. At Snetterton we didn’t really have it. Knockhill was good but we had all the contact and we were unable to show it. Today, we had mixed weather conditions – we were expecting a nice sunny day so when we went out this morning, we thought we had the car set up from qualifying but it got remarkably cold and we had no grip.
In race one, we were doing ok but Giovanardi ran me wide and span me, which was unfortunate. Then I started fighting my way back and I came through Copse and Jelley was in the middle of a big spin. I had to take avoiding action and I was very close to hitting the barrier. I really thought I was going off in a massive way. I managed to avoid him but I got swamped by four or five cars. That put me down to tenth or eleventh and I had to battle my way back through. But really my race was over then.
Reversal of fortunes
I was very pleased with the reverse grid. For the past few seasons, reverse grids have never really worked for me, but twice this year I’ve had some success with the reverse grids.
It’s not often you can smoke an F1 driver away from the lights. We haven’t been beaten all year away from the lights. I don’t think one person has overtaken me at the start of a race this year. I was a little bit worried with race one, but we got off the line well and held the lead for a few laps. We’ve had some glory this weekend. We led some races and to get a podium is a really nice way to cap it off for the team.
Race three was a bit of a strange one with the tyres. The rear tyres came in really well and then we had understeer. I was slow for the first five or six laps. Jackson was just pulling me in, but then about halfway through the race, my tyres started to heat up at the front and I was able to brake later and carry more speed. I then reeled him back in and I think another lap or so and I might have been able to pass him.
All in all, it’s fantastic to get another podium for the team after a couple of very tough meetings. I’m very pleased. Bring on Rockingham!
Tags: btcc 2009 collard rob
