Barrow-upon-Humber racer Martyn Bell will aim to end his second season in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship on a high this coming weekend as the series returns to Thruxton for the final meeting of the year.

Martyn heads to Hampshire on the back of his best result of the season last time out at Knockhill and will hope to have more luck on his side than when the BTCC visited Thruxton back in May – when an incident in the second race ended any chance he had of scoring a top ten finish.

The meeting should mark Martyn’s final race with the BMW 320i E46 that he has campaigned for the past two seasons, with the focus being on upgrading to a new machine for the 2008 season, and Martyn said he was keen to try and end his time with the ex-WTCC machine with a solid weekend of racing.

“I feel good going into the weekend,” he said. “It’s been a while since our last race at Knockhill and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel.

“I’ve gone well at Thruxton in the past and it’s the end of term, so I want to try and end the season on a high. I’m going to run my own race in the mid-field, try to stay on the train of cars in front and hopefully it can help us get into the top-ten. In an ideal world, we’d like to get into the points in the second race and then have the reverse grid go in our favour so we can start the final round from the front of the grid.

“Looking to the future, this is probably going to be my last race with the E46, but not my last race in the BTCC. I suppose it’s the end of one chapter and the start of another.”

Martyn added that he wasn’t sure who will come out on top in the fight for the title between Jason Plato and Fabrizio Giovanardi, admitting that he just hoped the battle is decided on-track.

“I’m going to make sure I don’t get involved with the drivers fighting for the championship,” he said. “If they are coming up behind me then I’ll get well out of the way. Both drivers have done well but I don’t really care who wins the title between Jason and Fabrizio, as long as it’s decided on the race track.”

Going into the final meeting of the season, Martyn was boosted by the news that he has collected six tyres from series sponsors Dunlop in the annual ‘Spirit of the Championship’ awards – with Martyn and his team being given the prize for battling adversity through the season to ensure that the BMW has appeared at every meeting this year.

“I’m really chuffed,” he said. “It’s nice that our efforts throughout the season have been recognised in that way.”