Character building start to Taylor's Season
Rounds 1,2 &3 of the Hi-Q MSA British Touring Car Championship took place where it all began in 1958, Brands Hatch.
After promising Pre-Season testing Alan Taylor and his Robertshaw Racing Honda Integra was looking forward to doing well. The free practice sessions went trouble free but the weather played a huge part with drizzle on and off throughout the sessions. Alan Would end up just out side the top 20 after the morning sessions.
Qualifying would prove to be a nightmare for all the drivers with tyre choice like Oulton Park in 2006 proved to be a lottery. The track started wet and this suited Alan down to the ground and in the early part of the session was the highest Robertshaw Racing in 13th place. As the track slowly dried Alan was still setting good times and despite slipping to 17th place. After a short red flag period to recover Martyn Bell's Vuaxhall the session was restarted. The track now was starting to dry very quickly andwith only a few minutes left Alan did not have enough time to change on to slick tyres and subsequently would end the session in 23rd place. "I was going well to start with but as the track dried I didnt get the chance to change tyres so it's a little annoying but I am looking forward to the races tomorrow." Said the Whitley Bay driver. After the session it was found that Alan had bent a wishbone so the team set about replacing it for the race.
Race day was overcast and damp and with a huge crowd plus the top 15 cars covered by 1 second it was going to be a great days racing. Starting 23rd on the grid Alan knew he had to go for it and that is what he did as the lights went out. Blasting off the line Alan gained 4 places by druids. Andrew Jordan got tapped in to a spin and that allowed Alan to go through then, John George and Harry Vaulkhard had a coming together and this promoted Alan to a fantastic 16th by the end of lap 1. With the track still slippery the car was becoming a handfull and on lap 3 the back end of Alan's Integra stepped out at Graham Hill Bend and as the car rotated he clipped the rear wing of Martyn Bell. After a moment Alan rejoined in a plume of tyre smoke as he wheelspinned away in 22nd place. As the race progressed there was no change till lap 11 when Matt Jackson came up to lap Taylor. As the pair approched Graham Hill Bend the BMW Driver hit the back of the Honda dislodging the rear bumper. Jackson eventually went through on Copper Straight. After a few laps of the bumper trailing the officials black flagged Taylor and Team Manager Mike Pickup ordered the Robertshaw Racing driver to pit to have the bumper removed. For the rest of the race After Alan left the pits there was no change and Taylor would finish a dissapointing 21st. After the race Alan said "I got a stunning start and was right up with Hughes when I lost it at Graham Hill. I am sorry I hit Martyn he had no where to go. I am annoyed I was black flagged, I hadn't realised Matt hit me."
Race 2 the track was dry and once again Alan had it all to do from the inside of row 11. As the lights went out Alan got to much wheelspin and that dropped him a couple of places. The first 6 laps saw Alan gradually closing on Martyn Bell and by the end of the 6th lap Taylor would be right with Arkas Racing driver. After a 3 lap Safety Car period following the accident involving Rob Collard the race restarted with Alan in 19th place but he was under pressure from Andrew Jordan and John George who were able to slip passed dropping Taylor back to 21st. Once Taylor got in to his stride he was soon passed Micky Doyle and Martyn Bell and set upon closing on Erkut Kazilirmak whom he had a fabulous scrap with at Thruxton last season. Lap after lap Alan was trying to find a way through and eventually on lap23 Taylor got a great run out of Clearways and drew alongside the 2005 Turkish Touring Car Champion and dived through on the entrance to Paddock Hill. The closing stages of the race Alan started to experience gearbox problems and this was causing him to loose 2 seconds a lap and this enabled Erkut, Martyn Bell and Micky Doyle to pass the ailing Honda. The race ended with taylor in 20th place in what could have been a top 17 finish. " The race was great till the last 2 laps" said Alan, " The gears were playing up and i was struggling to change down plus I lost 5th and i was powerless to defend. Oh well roll on race 3."
Race 3 this time starting 20th again like the first 2 races Alan had to go for it. After a good start which elevated him to 19th after Team Mate Harry Vaulkhard got a bad start. As the field rounded Graham Hill Bend there was chaos. Gordon Shedden got a tap from Jason Plato and this speared the Scotsman in to Tom Onslow-Cole and that fired the Vectra hard in to the barriers, The safety car was scrambled and the Kingston-Upon-Thames driver was shaken but nevertheless unhurt. Mean While Alan was having problem with his gearbox again. After the team did a great job of fixing the 5th gear in between races 2 and 3 alan pitted after loosing 2nd then the rest of the gears went forcing Taylor to retire. "i am dissapointed I had had to retire but the gearbox problems came back to haunt me." said Taylor "I am pleased that Tom is ok its never nice to see anyone in an accident."
After the meeting the BTCC Paddock recieved devestating news that former BTCC Driver David Leslie and former Team Boss Richard Lloyd tragically lost their lives in a plane crash near by to the circuit. Alan said " This is a very sad way to end the weekend and my thoughts are with the families."
Rounds 4,5 and 6 take place at the Rockingham Motor Speedway on the 12/13 April
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