Disappointing day for Airwaves BMW

Airwaves BMW driver Rob Collard was left with sore ribs and a resulting hospital check at the end of a disappointing day for his Airwaves BMW team. Leading in the final race of the day, Collard was tapped by rival James Nash and spun helplessly across the track to be collected by an unsighted Stephen Jelley.

Collard’s non-finish in the final race of the day effectively spells the end of the team’s championship aspirations admitted team boss Dave Bartrum. “I really don’t know what to say after that,” he admitted, referring to the race three incident. “It was so disappointing as we have gone from a strong position coming into this round to a really difficult one after today. Rob really deserved a win in that last race and Jonny took three points finishes, and could’ve had more, so we were really competitive out there. The overall results have effectively ended our championship hopes though.

“As always we will fight all the way and try and win races at the remaining rounds.  We’ve had some good results at the tracks that are still to come and everyone is looking forward to Knockhill, which will be a big one for us seeing as it is Jonny’s home round.”

Collard’s day would begin with bad luck in race one when he was spun around on the opening lap by Gordon Shedden. After having fought his way up to a points-paying 10th position by lap 17 luck would once again prove it was not on his side as he was forced to retire with damage to his front-right tyre. In race two he battled his way from 15th to 7th, using the excellent starting power of the BMW to jump into 9th by the end of the opening lap alone.

Jonny Adam took three points finishes from the day’s three races, but admitted that he was disappointed not to have secured a podium finish. In race one he was involved in fantastic battles with James Thompson and Paul O’Neill but ultimately fell short of a podium. Race two again looked promising but as the race went on both Adam and Collard suffered with tyre wear more than the other BMW runners and fell back, powerless to stop the hard charging Jason Plato and James Thompson getting past. In race three Adam slipped off the circuit on oil and finished ninth.

“Obviously I’m glad to have managed three points finishes,” Adam said. “I’ve been looking for consistency and that is a step in the right direction. It was a wee bit disappointing though because the car was good and I ran in the podium positions in all three races, but just didn’t manage to nail one.

“The third race was especially disappointing as I ran straight into a patch of oil and it sent me off, there was just nothing I could do about it. I’m really looking forward to the next round at Knockhill though. I know it well and I will hopefully have a really big support there, so I’m confident of being in the hunt for some good results again.”