Thruxton Race Report

The 4th rounds of the Hi-Q BTCC were to take place at the fastest circuit in the UK, at Hampshire’s notorious Thruxton Circuit. A circuit Vaulkhard has had various success’s at in his career, including fastest laps & even winning the SEAT Cupra R Championship on his birthday just 7 Months earlier.

Through testing the young Tynesider was pushing hard to find the limits of the car setup & managed to exceed them on several occasions resulting in spectacular spins and even a did four full 360’s at the UK’s fastest corner.

Qualifying took place on a dry circuit, The Robertshaw Chevrolet team had planned a three run strategy, however after an initial instillation lap this was looking likely to be impossible as the car emerged in the pit lane with the front bumper and splitter hanging in tatters under the car after a joint failed. The team hurried around trying to rectify the problem as quickly as possible however valuable minutes were ticking away. The BTCC rookie didn’t need this setback however managed to keep his cool and when the problem was fixed he set off to get one qualifying lap in the remaining time of the session. Unfortunately on Vaulkhards flying lap the bumper gave up the ghost again and was trailing along under the car no doubt not doing the aero dynamics of the car no good what so ever. A good tidy lap saw the youngster end up in a creditable 15th position from just one flying lap.
“That was unfortunate, these things happen sometimes, but I’m sure I could have gone a fair bit better had the bumper not been dragging along & had we been able to do the three flying laps as planned, 15th is a decent place to start though considering.”

Race 1:
Vaulkhard lined up on the inside of the grid hopeful to make up some positions at the start of the race, however once again fortune was not on the Tynesider’s side as his grid slot is one of the few on the grid which leaves the start lights unsighted, meaning he had to be told when they went to green by the team manager over the radio. As they went green Vaulkhard lost a few positions and on the opening laps was fighting hard to gain back the positions. On Lap 6 Vaulkhard who was carving throught the field, got involved in an incident at the Chicane which damaged his steering and put him out of the race! After he commented,
“I’m annoyed with myself for that, I was trying to go round the outside which is possible & I have done it myself before, however it requires a lot of respect from both drivers and in hindsight this was probably not the right time to make this move as I could have taken the position later in the lap.”

Race 2:
As Harry was the only retiree from race 1 he was starting from 23rd on the grid ‘second last’ after Jason Plato was penalised for a technical infringement, and put to dead last on the grid. As the lights went to green Vaulkhard was able to see them this time and got a great start making a position on the run to turn 1, this initial aggression was to last throughout the race as Vaulkhard plucked off car after car and battled hard through the field to eventually finish 16th after Mike Jordans Honda Integra shot past on the Woodham straight. Still a great result from the back row of the grid.
“I’m happy to have finished where I started race one from and hopefully in race three I can make a push for the top ten where I know I can finish. It was a shame that Mike got past so late in the race but I couldn’t answer to the power that those things have in a straight line” [referring to the Integra]

Race 3:
The twenty two year old started Race 3 with high hopes of pushing for the top 10 spot that has eluded him on several occasions throughout the season, he was up beat after some suspension setup changes. As the lights went to green, Vaulkhard had made a dyer start and was down in 18th. Still hopeful of that top ten position he set about clawing his way back through the field. Passing almost one car a lap and in one lap even made two positions, things were looking up for the young North Easterner. After getting back up to 11th position behind the two Motorbase BMW’s Harry made a move stick on Rob Collards 320Si around the outside of Noble even with two wheels on the grass. The youngster set about catching Collards teammate Steven Kane in the other BMW for 9th position. After catching Steven the two locked horns in a wheel-to-wheel battle that would last for the rest of the race, as the two began there final lap hey were as close as ever and coming up Woodham Hill they were bumper to bumper heading for the chequered flag, as they entered the braking area Vaulkhard locked up and nudged the BMW across the inside of the chicane not costing either car anytime they crossed the line 9th & with Vaulkhard 10th claiming his first BTCC top ten finish. A fantastic effort from the team and driver having started the previous race on the back row of the grid. After the race a delighted Harry said:
“Yea a top ten is a great result for us, I think I could have got passed Kane with another two laps but he did a great job of defending, we’re learning lots about the car at every round and I can only see us getting stronger and stronger throughout the year.”

The next round is the team, and Vaulkhards home event at Croft circuit in North Yorkshire. A circuit Vaulkhard knows only too well as he works there as a racing instructor and broke the Clio lap record over the winter at the circuit.