Martyn Bell is hoping that a long awaited change in luck will finally arrive this weekend as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Cheshire for the latest rounds of the season at Oulton Park.

Bell goes into the fifth meeting of the BTCC season lying tenth in the Independents’ Championship standings but has yet to score his first outright points of the season after a run of bad luck in recent events.

That included an incident packed weekend last time out at Croft when the AllAboutProperty.com team worked hard to get the BMW 320i on the grid after an accident in the opening practice session, and now Bell will hope for a change in luck heading to one of his favourite circuits on the BTCC calendar.

“I really like Oulton Park, it is fast and flowing and always provides good racing,” he said. “The car has been straightened out and I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel. I made a mistake in the opening practice session at Croft last time out and it put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend. Now I just want to head into the weekend feeling calm and build up momentum when we get out on track.

“Having been taken out of the second race at the last three meetings, hopefully the purple patch that we are due will arrive and our luck will change for the better.”

One thing Bell certainly won’t object to is a repeat of the qualifying results from his debut season – when mixed weather conditions saw the BMW qualify third on the grid behind the works SEATs.

“It would be nice if I could qualify in the same place I did last season,” Martyn said, “although I’d like to get a bit further than the second lap this time!

“I’m not sure what the weather is likely to do this time around, but I hope that it is either dry or wet – not in between. If it is wet then the circuit will be tricky, especially round Druids when you head under the trees, but then again, it will be the same for everybody.”