Race two of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park was a bittersweet one for Motorbase Performance BMW.
While Steven Kane produced an outstanding battling performance to finish just off the podium in fourth, another points finish for Rob Collard was thwarted when a mechanical problem forced him to retire.
Both Motorbase drivers once again demonstrated the lightning starting power of the BMW 320si and seized a couple of places before turn one. Running closely together as they have done all weekend, the duo forced their way through the field and by the third lap Kane was in sixth and Collard in eighth.
However, Collard then suddenly suffered a mechanical problem in the thick of the battle and was forced to coast back to the pits to see if his crew could fix the problem. He was unable to rejoin the race, although it is understood his car will run in race three.
Meanwhile, his team-mate Steven Kane was locked in a titanic battle with Honda runner Tom Chilton – with both drivers fighting side by side around the circuit in front of a record BTCC crowd at Oulton Park. They were closely followed by Adam Jones and Stephen Jelley in what was shaping up to be a real dogfight.
By lap eight Kane had managed to win his tussle with Chilton and move into fourth position. With just under half the race remaining and some clear track in front of him, Kane then had to focus on stretching his lead on the pack behind and chasing down Tom Onslow-Cole ahead in third.
Despite showing searing pace and cutting the gap on the Vauxhall man to just over one second, Kane was unable to repeat his feat of climbing onto the podium as he did at the last round at Snetterton.
Having recaptured the form showed by the team in the previous few events, Motorbase Performance will be looking for another strong showing from both cars in the third race.
Motorbase Performance Team Driver Steven Kane said:
“I’m delighted with that result as it was a really hard race. Tom Chilton made it very difficult for me but I was faster than him, and once I got by I was able to really push on and try and catch the cars in front. The car was great and the slight adjustments we made in set-up had a positive effect. Hopefully we will be able to produce more of the same next time out.”
Motorbase Performance Team Driver Rob Collard said:
“I’m very happy for the team and Steven because we’ve got another good result, but I’m massively frustrated because I was right up there and quick enough to do the same. I’m not sure exactly what went wrong but hopefully the team will get it fixed and I’ll be back out in race three.”
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