Collard claims 4th in Feature Race qualifying

Hampshire based Robert Collard made a commited start to his 2002 MSA British Touring Car Championship campaign at Brands Hatch on Easter Sunday, taking 9th and 4th grid positions for the first races of the season.

In the first of the two qualifying sessions, Collard set a time of 1:41.626 to gain 9th position on the grid. The new qualifying format for the 2002 season, which consists of two consecutive 20 minute sessions, allowed the Collard Racing team to make some necessary changes to the Clio in between the two. This enabled Rob to consistently improve his times throughout the second session, with the last lap of 1:39.337 being his best of the day, securing him a spot on the second row of the grid.

Collard said after qualifying: ?We?re very very pleased with today. We were trying out new things in the first session and we were able to make improvements in the second in order to put us closer to where we want to be. We would be happy with a points finish in both races, but ultimately our aim is a podium finish.?

Collard?s future plans for the car will be to implement not only a new livery, but also a bodykit in line with the phase II Renault Clio. Following encouraging results with the rebuild of the old engine, the newly prepared IES engine should be seen in the Clio for rounds 3 and 4.