Podium return after the summer break

It felt great getting back behind the wheel of the eBay Motors BMW at Snetterton after the seven-week summer break. It has been a very busy summer and now my focus can return to touring car action as the second half of the season begins.

Overall, it was a decent weekend at the Norfolk track which tends to suit the more powerful cars; this had the potential to hurt us as we expected the NGTC cars to handle the circuit better. Although the eBay team package over the weekend was 100% and I really feel we are maximising every aspect of the car at the moment. The mechanics continue to excel themselves with a car that has struggled with equalisation against the NGTCs over the past few rounds.

After qualifying in ninth place on Saturday I was delighted to end the weekend with another place on the podium as I managed to work the reverse grid to my advantage. We are still looking for that elusive top step, but its shows that the team continues to be competitive on race weekends as we lie in second in the Independents team standings.

Off the track, the weekend at Snetterton started on Friday as Edd China and myself launched the eBay Motors Mechanics Challenge. I was a bit shocked when I saw that we would be turning a milk float into a race car, but with Edd China’s track record of weird and wonderful creations anything is possible! We got to test drive the float and I was pleasantly surprised that it made it around the circuit in under ten minutes. It also fills me with confidence that the eBay Motors team mechanics are going to be involved in the transformation.

It is a massive challenge and I am looking forward to the next six weeks to see what we can do using parts and accessories from eBay Motors. I am sure there will be plenty of twists along the way but it should make for a bit of fun!

The next BTCC round is Knockhill and we will be looking to continue our form with some top five places and hopefully even bag a podium or two.