SIB Sport

Rain stops play for Simon

Monday 16th July 2007

Dunlop MSA British Touring Car driver Simon Blanckley became a victim of the dreadful weather that blighted the Donington Park race meeting last weekend, despite a fantastic start.

On Saturday, with the bad weather holding off, Blanckley was consistently in 14^th during both practice sessions in his sibsport Honda, his best performance of the year so far, despite inexperience of the circuit.  More success followed in qualifying with Simon eventually ending up 13^th on the grid for round 16.

Blanckley made a strong start to round 16 and took a place away from Tom Ferrier’s Seat off the grid, but was overtaken by championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi and Irishman Eoin Murray by the end of lap one.  After making up another place, Blanckley stayed out of trouble for several laps as others predictably fell foul of the dreadful conditions.  The Durham driver was out on his own in lonely 12^th – just two places shy of an outright championship point – when a safety car period closed the field up again.  By lap eight Blanckley was closing on the vastly more experienced Mike Jordan in a similar Honda Integra.  Meanwhile, behind Blanckley, Team Halfords driver Matt Neal had passed John George and quickly closed in on the sibsport driver.  Going down through the Craner Curves on lap nine, Neal touched Blanckley’s rear bumper, damaging the exhaust.  The contact eventually caused damage to a driveshaft, ending his race.  Neal eventually would finish on the podium in third.

The non-finish in the first race left Simon with 21^st on the grid for round 17, but given the conditions, grid position didn’t really have too much relevance.  By the end of lap one, Blanckley was behind both of the Kartworld MG ZS cars in 22^nd, which became 21^st after Irishman Eoin Murray ahead slowed.  Blanckley became part of an eight-car group battling for 14^th position, and he made a position up on lap eleven.  He then started to set quick lap times comparable with the eventual points finishers, and he overtook Fiona Leggate’s MG on the penultimate lap and Richard Marsh on the last lap.  Unfortunately, the conditions and the grid position meant that whilst he had the pace, Blanckley couldn’t challenge for points.

In round 18, the final BTCC race of the day, Blanckley started in 17^th but lost traction on the slippery surface and dropped two places, but stayed ahead of John George, also in a Honda Integra.  He would close on Martyn Bell’s BMW in front and it looked like the two would be having another classic battle, as they had done during the previous meeting at Oulton Park.  However, as Simon chased Bell down, he hit a river of water that was travelling across the circuit at the Craner Curves and the car went sideways.  Despite his best efforts to control the slide, the car entered the gravel at the Old Hairpin corner – where so many top drivers have been caught out in the past – and it was race over. 

Team Quotes

Simon Blanckley – Owner/driver