Having feared he may be forced out of the penultimate meeting of the season at Knockhill, hard work from his team has ensured that Barrow-upon-Humber racer Martyn Bell is heading for Scotland to take his place on the grid for the ninth round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Martyn was one of the unlucky drivers to be caught up in a multi-car accident at the start of race one at Brands Hatch two weeks ago, and was also forced off track at the start of the second race – with the resulting damage leaving his BMW 320i looking somewhat second-hand at the end of race day.

With the car having also suffered from a gearbox issue that needed to be resolved in the short gap between races, it left the team with work to do to get Martyn on the grid at the circuit where he secured his best results of the year last season.

However, after a number of late nights over the past week, the ex-WTCC BMW has been rolled into the race truck to make the trip north ahead of the weekend’s action.

“I feel sorry for those drivers that can’t make it, but we can only go out and race the cars that are there,” Martyn said. “I want to put on a good show for my guys, who worked so hard at Brands Hatch and have done late nights since then to get us ready for Scotland – they have been absolutely brilliant.

“The car is now straightened out and as it should be, so I want to get out there and try and get into the swing of things quickly. Hopefully lady luck will be shining on me and I can turn my quick starts into some good results this weekend.

“Last year was the first time I’d ever been to Knockhill and I really enjoyed it. It’s a super little circuit and the Scottish fans are brilliant, so I want to go out there and help put on some good entertainment for them.”