Podium finish eludes Collard (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Podium finish eludes Collard

8:10am Saturday 20th June 2009 in

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HOOK touring car driver Rob Collard has his sights set on a top three finish in the drivers’ championship after a difficult weekend at Croft.

The Airwaves BMW driver recorded two fourth place finishes and a seventh at the Yorkshire track on Sunday.

He now lies fifth in the British Touring Car Championship drivers’ standings on 98 points, 51 behind leader Colin Turkington. While the 40-year-old admits that the championship may now be beyond him, he believes that the top three is a realistic aim.

“Colin has got a big lead in the championship now and it will be hard to peg him back,” Collard said. “We have to focus on finishing in the top three.”

Collard’s BMW 320si E90 struggled in qualifying and he had to be content with tenth place on the grid for the first 15-lap race.

However, he got a fantastic start, making three places off the line and drove well throughout the race to climb up to fourth before a crash saw the race stopped a lap early, with Turkington claiming victory.

Collard said: “Race one was really good and I was unfortunate that the race was stopped because I might have been able to snatch a podium place.”

As a result, Collard started the second race fourth on the grid and made a good start once again, passing Jason Plato into the first corner.

However, Plato fought back, resulting in some high quality driving from both men. While Collard was able to hold him off until lap 11, the former champion managed to get past, leaving the Hook man fourth again, while Turkington collected his second win of the day.

“Jason and I have both been going really well,” Collard said. “We pushed it hard and it was enjoyable racing but he just managed to get past.”

The first two races had been run in bright sunshine but the heavens opened before the third, leaving teams scrambling to adjust their set-up.

Starting seventh on the reverse grid, Collard was able to get up to fourth before a spell behind the safety car. When the race restarted, Collard made a mistake at the first corner and eventually dropped back to seventh, Fabrizio Giovanardi claiming the win.

Collard said: “The conditions were terrible and after I made the mistake it was a case of staying on and bringing the car home safely.

“We did not have the pace the RAC cars had so it was always going to be damage limitation. To get the points we did was very good but it was all a bit frustrating because we could not find the balance we have had in the past.”

The championship now takes a summer break, with the next round at Snetterton, Norfolk, on August 2.