Will Burns will miss this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship season finale at Brands Hatch due to the injuries the Team HARD racer suffered in his accident at the previous round at Silverstone.
Burns was involved in a multi-car shunt at Silverstone, with the BMW of Rob Collard spearing across the inside of the circuit and into Burns’ Volkswagen and the Pirtek BMW of Andrew Jordan.
The 27-year-old suffered from fractured ribs and bruising in the accident, which have ruled him out of racing on medical grounds for the next four to six weeks.
The team’s VW CC also suffered from extensive damage in the shunt and it has not been possible to repair the car in time for this weekend’s races. Consequently, TOCA have agreed the withdrawal of the car on the grounds of force majeure.
It means that Burn’s finishes his début season in the BTCC as one of only three drivers not to score any points in 2017.
“It’s disappointing not to be able to complete my maiden BTCC season at Brands Hatch this weekend, but withdrawing from the meeting is certainly the right decision to make in the circumstances,” said Burns.
“I want to say a huge thank you to the marshals who were the first on the scene at Silverstone, to the BTCC and Silverstone medical teams, and all the staff at the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire for all their fantastic help.
“I must also say a massive thank you to everyone who has sent their well wishes since the incident, the response has been truly overwhelming. I hope to be back in a race car soon as we begin to look ahead to the 2018 season.”
WSR have built up a new 125i M Sport car to replace Collard’s heavily damaged BMW and the Team BMW driver has therefore been confirmed to take part in the final three races of the season to support team-mate Colin Turkington’s title bid.