Quotes from the fourth race day of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season at Thruxton.
Bobby Thompson: “A weekend of mixed emotions for myself and the team. We really have something special in the car and I really believe we are able to compete up the front of the grid and do great things.
“It was looking like that was going to happen at Thruxton until a stone went through the radiator and ended our day early which hurt even more because we knew the potential in the car.
“As a team, we all need to keep our heads held up and have a positive outlook on the next round at Oulton Park because our recent results haven’t reflected the car we have underneath us.”
Dan Lloyd: “I’m really disappointed with the results. They really don’t reflect the hard work we have put into the car and the performance we have, I genuinely thought we were going to be having a great race day.
“Sadly we had a sensor failure in race 1 which resulted in a DNF after running inside the points until that point. That ruined the day to be honest as we started from the back in race 2 but we gave it a good go and we finished in 16th on the road which I was happy with. To add to the pain I was knocked back to 21st after I got a track limits penalty. We couldn’t progress in race three from there and it was a day to forget.
“I’m still really positive though and I’m confident that something good is coming. I just need this bad luck to disappear and then we can start scoring the points that I know we are capable of getting.
I’m looking forward to Oulton Park in a couple of weeks where hopefully my luck will change!”
It was a difficult weekend for Dan and Bobby who both suffered issues on race day.
Dexter Patterson: “Overall I have to say it was a good weekend on my side of the garage as I come away leading the Jack Sears Trophy and securing a double points finish.
We are getting closer every weekend to Bobby and Dan which is encouraging as it shows we are making progress with the car and I’m confident of scoring a solid haul of points next time out at Oulton Park.”
Jade Edwards: “We went into Thruxton with the same optimism as we always do, and with it being my favourite track on the calendar, I was working hard to make sure I could put in my best effort for the team.
“Sadly, we were hit with more car troubles throughout the weekend – resulting in a lack of laps in qualifying which really put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend. It didn’t get much better on Sunday unfortunately with two DNF’s out of the three races.
“I cannot fault my car crew at all – those guys are working around the clock to get my car to where it needs to be on a race weekend, but it’s just a shame we aren’t able to get the results to reward all of our efforts. Hopefully, our luck will change at Oulton Park.”
Dexter held of fierce competition to secure two points finishes and the lead of the Jack Sears Trophy. Photograph: Mike Hills
Jack Butel: “We felt confident going into Sunday as we did a mega job with what we had underneath us and it was only a small mistake from myself that dropped us back in qualifying on Saturday. Despite this, I was still quicker than my lap here in the Hyundai so that was really positive.
“The day started on the back foot though with a DNF after a slight incident with one of my teammates so we ended up right at the back for race 2. We got through a good number of cars in that one and got to 20th which is a pretty good result considering where we started.
In race 3 we went the wrong way with setup and dropped a place. Despite this, I still think we have made a massive step with the car’s setup to better understand what works and what doesn’t so I feel really confident going into Oulton Park.
“Oulton Park isn’t a high-speed track so our weaknesses shouldn’t be as exposed as they were at Thruxton. The circuit is also very technical and with what I’ve learnt with my coach James, I think we will do better than we did in 2022.”
Nic Hamilton: “All in all not a bad weekend at Thruxton. We weren’t expecting too much going into the weekend knowing that we are struggling for power at the moment with our engine and you rely heavily on the engine power and performance at Thruxton. It’s not really a good circuit for me so I knew the weekend was about developing and getting stronger over the weekend.
We developed the car which was good and I feel like I had some decent pace at the start of the races which was positive. As a team, I think we are lacking some outright pace and consistency but that’s what happens in motorsport, it is full of ups and downs and going into Oulton Park I feel that I will be strong there and the car will perform.
“Overall, I’m happy to have Thruxton behind us, I think we all are as a team and we look forward to Oulton Park to get some good results like we have previously and at the start of the year.”
Nic battled hard throughout race day to move forward from his grid position. Photograph: Mike Hills