NORTH Hampshire Touring Car drivers Nick Foster and Rob Collard had another tough day at the races as the championship moved to the Norfolk track of Snetterton.

Both drivers suffered in qualifying, failing to set a time in an opportune moment early in the session.

Collard was blocked on his fast lap and came in for new tyres and Foster had problems with his car. By the time they got back on track red flags caused a halt to qualifying.

Once it resumed, the amount of oil on the track made it impossible to get close to the earlier times, leaving Collard a second and 11 places behind his ebay Motors teammate Colin Turkington, who lined up fifth.

Foster was even further down the grid, having to start from 20th, but he battled up to 14th despite his passenger window smashing during the race and a wasp flying around the cockpit.

Collard also moved up the placings to 10th and that saw him really in the mix in race two.

Having worked his way up to sixth, in passing reigning champion Gordon Shedden, he was hit by the Honda, which broke the back suspension of his BMW, sending him spinning off the track soon after.

Meanwhile, Foster gained another couple of places to finish 12th and in the final race managed to bag a top-10 finish just behind his teammate Collard, who battled his way up from the back of the grid.

Looking back on his weekend, Hook’s Collard said: “Qualifying was a disaster as we missed the window in which to set a good time. The car was competitive and in the second race I felt I made a good move on Gordon Shedden, but the Honda is built like a tank and the contact broke the suspension and ended my chances of what I felt was a podium finish.

“That left me at the back for race three, but we did well to get as far as we did.”

Odiham’s Foster said: “It was a really hard weekend as in race one they closed the door on the grid and the next thing I hear is a buzzing sound and a wasp landed on the dashboard. As you are strapped in, I was not able to lean forward and hit it.

“Then my passenger window smashed and bits of glass were blowing in as I went round so it was not ideal.”

Foster added: “In race two, we had a fuel pump issue which saw me lose power in the straight, so it was not until the last outing that the car felt good and it showed with the result.

“The only good thing to come out of the weekend is I am now the top Hampshire driver in the championship ahead of Rob (Collard) and Dan Welch.”

The pair will now hope for better fortunes when they travel to Knockhill on August 25.