West Surrey Racing remains in a race against time to fix Rob Collard’s BMW 125i M-Sport in time for this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship season finale at Brands Hatch, as teammate Colin Turkington bids to land a second series title.
Championship leader Turkington sits 50 points clear of his only remaining championship contender Jason Plato, with a maximum of 67 on offer this weekend.
But despite the 32-year-old’s strong position at the top of the table, his eBay Motors team are still uncertain about whether or not their full contingent of cars will be entered at Brands Hatch, as they continue to rebuild Collard’s machine after his shunt at the previous round.
Collard found himself a passenger in the day’s second race, as he was pitched into the air and barrel-rolled as he tried to avoid a spinning Jack Clarke, who had been tagged by Honda’s Gordon Shedden.
The eight-time race winner was airlifted to hospital as a precaution, but while he was discharged later that evening, there remains work to be done to his car before it can race this weekend.
“It has been an extremely busy time and a huge effort from everyone at the team,” said Team Boss Dick Bennetts. “We only got the shell back on Wednesday evening and the guys worked through the night, as they will again this evening. Everyone is working around the clock and the guys are putting in a monumental effort to try and get Rob out on track – barring any dramas we should be okay.”
Collard himself was nevertheless insistent that should he be on the grid, he would do everything within his control to assist his teammate’s bid to land a second title, a view that was echoed by the outfit’s third driver, Nick Foster.
“I’m ready to go,” said Collard. “I know the team are trying everything to get the car ready so fingers crossed I make it out there to help eBay Motors win the teams’ championship and obviously support Colin where I can.