Collard Aims for Home Circuit Success

Hampshire racer Rob Collard is looking forward to this weekend’s third meeting of the 2003 British Touring Car Championship, which takes place at his home track of Thruxton, near Andover. Battling for the lead of the Independents’ section of the prestigious series, Collard and his family-run Vauxhall Astra will be sure to be on the pace in Bank Holiday Monday’s races.

“I’m always delighted to be racing at Thruxton,” says Rob, “it’s my favourite circuit and I always enjoy racing in front of my home fans. Thruxton is a very challenging circuit and very quick – you can really see the quality of a driver stand out round there, and the quick corners make it a very ‘ballsy’ track.

“Thruxton is always hard on tyres, and I believe we are being supplied with a new tyre for this weekend. I’ve done a lot of tyre testing before, so it could work in my favour if we can finds the sweet-spot on set-up for the new compound quickly and use that to our advantage.

“The racing in the Independents category has been very close so far this season – and will get even tighter as the year goes on. I’m not a fan of making predictions, but I’m looking for a win and a top six finish overall at Thruxton.”

Qualifying for the first on Bank Holiday Monday’s two races is on Sunday afternoon, the grid for the second race being set by the finishing positions in the first. Rob’s Collard Racing Astra competes against the big-budget factory teams for overall race victory, as well as challenging for the Independent’s title for privately-run cars.