Chris Brown is the Lanky Git

I am going to try and write this blog post without gags about the sunshine.co.uk being out this weekend etc but it’s going to be tough after such a fantastic start to the 2009 BTCC season.

Sadly due to work commitments in Spain, Paul O’Neill was unable to race at Brands Hatch, however he WILL be out fielding the second car at Thruxton Circuit on the 26th April.

The weekend started off well after a strong qualifying session by Martyn which saw us settle in 15th place on the grid. Despite being more than half way back on the grid it was great for a number of reasons. Firstly, by his own admission, Martyn is a racer not a qualifier and prefers to race against other cars as opposed to the clock. Secondly we were only 0.143 seconds off the fastest time posted by Dave Pinkney in his Team Dynamics Honda Civic – a newer car run by a team with a much bigger budget than ours. Finally, last season Martyn qualified in 24th position. We had been set to qualify a strong 13th however we missed out on the last few minutes of qualifying after Jelley put his Team RAC BMW in the gravel trap, bringing a halt to proceedings and loss of the heat in our tyres with not much time to get them warm again. Pinkney and George just finding a tenth of a second before Jelley’s off.

Race One

The first race saw Martyn fighting with the likes of Tom Chilton and Dan Eaves, which saw him bring the car home in a comfortable tenth place. The Integra proved it still has pace as Martyn spent the last 7 or so laps of the race gaining on Dan Eaves and lapping just .080 of a second than the Cartridge World Seat Leon.

Having known how dedicated Martyn is and how hard he works to get a decent result, it was great to at last see him prove that he does have what it takes to race in the BTCC and that having a decent car is half the battle won! He came back to the pits to lots of cheering fans, to us he had just won the race.

Race Two

Despite starting from tenth on the grid for race two the Team sunshine.co.uk Integra conceded two places early in the race as the grid jostled for position entering the first turn into Paddock Hill Bend and subsequently Druids hairpin at the top of the hill. This didn’t stop Martyn holding on to a fine twelfth, less than two seconds behind Jason Plato.

Race Three

As the sun set on the opening three rounds of the season Martyn and the trusty Honda Integra once again took to the grid, having had some cosmetic damage repaired by the Techspeed boys. Once again the car was bought home tenth once more and another point’s finish for the weekend. As was pointed out, we have finished the first meeting of the season with more points than we finished the whole of the 2008 season.

“Without doubt that was my best weekend in the BTCC,” he said. “I know I scored points with the BMW, but they were points I picked up, whereas at Brands Hatch, I raced for them. I had confidence in the car and was able to push a lot more, and the Integra really seems to suit me – even if I did make a fool of myself by going to get in the wrong side before the first practice session!

“I’m thrilled to bits with how the weekend went for me, the team and the sponsors. I now have a car that will allow me to show what I can do and I wasn’t a million miles away on the times. To be less than 20 seconds behind race winner Jason Plato in race three shows how far we’ve come.

“Brands Hatch has never been my best circuit, so hopefully there is more to come as the season goes on, and while I was aiming for top tens this weekend, I now want to try and be getting towards the top eight. I also can’t wait for Paul to join me in the second car, as he is a proven race winner and will only help to push me on. There is no reason why we can’t have the two sunshine.co.uk cars battling for points.”

The Team sunshine.co.uk Honda Integra was the also the highest placed BTC spec car over all three races. The team come away standing eighth in the overall team standings and seventh in the independents championship.

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