Front row performance for Vaulkhard at Donington

Mon 18th May 2009 Tempus Sport had their best weekend of the season in difficult wet conditions at Donington Park for the third round of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship, where driver Harry Vaulkhard (23) twice started from the front row and scored a best finish of fifth.

Harry showed his mettle in qualifying, held in dry conditions on Saturday, and put the Tempus Sport Chevrolet Lacetti on the front row by setting the second fastest time, just over a hundredth of a second off pole position.

In Sunday’s first race, held in treacherous wet conditions, Harry was able to take advantage of a strong wet set-up, however a less than perfect start and some inevitable touring car panel rubbing meant he finished in fifth position with a measured, mature and strong drive.

Race two saw Harry start from fifth, however he was forced to avoid an incident ahead of him which meant he dropped as low as 18th in the hotly contested field, before fighting his way back to tenth come the chequered flag.

Harry started from pole position for race three, thanks to the random reverse grid rule. He was unable to match the superior traction of the rear-wheel-drive BMW alongside, so lost one place at the start, but after that ran in second position for most of the early part of the race. The track started wet, but as it dried Fabrizio Giovanardi caught Harry and made a very robust passing move which started on the grass, and ended with contact between the two cars.

Not to be outdone, Harry fought back and found his way back past Giovanardi, the reigning champion, with further contact taking place between the two cars. The dicing duo had then been caught by the two other Chevrolets of Jason Plato and Mat Jackson and Colin Turkington’s BMW.

After some epic racing, Harry found himself at the back of this pack and before he was able to work his way forwards again a hapless backmarker attempted to get in the mix, pushing Harry off the track despite being a lap down. Harry, who was on wet tyres, then finished in seventh after just being pipped on the finish line for position by two-time BTCC champion, James Thompson, who was on slicks, the correct tyre for the now near fully dry track.

Richard Coleman, Tempus Sport Team Director said: “Our pace certainly came together this weekend and we have been racing right at the front. Harry has done a superb job and so have the team. We had a good set-up for the car in both wet and dry conditions and we were certainly in the thick of the action. This weekend has been a very strong display and we definitely had podium finishes on the cards.”

Harry Vaulkhard, Tempus Sport driver said: “I’m very happy about this weekend’s performance. The team worked brilliantly and the car was fantastic. There was a lot of action on track but I gave as good as I got, as you can’t back down in these situations. It was great to be racing at the front and I think we showed we can mix it with the big boys. I am disappointed that we didn’t get a podium but if we can keep this pace I don’t think we’ll have to wait long before we get one.”