.jpg)
Mark Blundell continues his maiden campaign in the British Touring Car Championship as he heads up to Oulton Park this weekend for the fifth round of the 2019 season. Fresh off the back of a positive outing at Croft less than two weeks ago, the former Formula 1 star and his Trade Price Cars Racing team will be looking to show further signs of progress this weekend.
After a difficult few rounds, Blundell bounced back in positive fashion to display improved pace and record three full-race distances and a top-twenty finish last time out at Croft, which happened to be the 53-year-old’s first ever action at the North Yorkshire circuit. Returning to a more familiar hunting ground this weekend, the #8 HP car will be taking to the Cheshire track seeking to continue moving in the right direction.
Playing host to one of the biggest rounds of the BTCC season, the picturesque Oulton Park track is a firm favourite for fans and drivers alike and Blundell is looking forward to embracing all the challenges that it will provide this weekend.
“We head to Oulton Park buoyed by the improvements we showed last time out. By no means are we where we want to be but we have at least started heading in the right direction and that is something that we need to continue this weekend. The team and I are putting in some real hard yards behind the scenes to make our way up the grid but we know that is going to be hard work.
“Oulton Park is a demanding and technical circuit but one that I am really looking forward to. Although a fair few years ago now, I’ve enjoyed some happy memories there in the past so it would be nice to add some more this weekend. I’m still learning every time I get in the car and out on track and I’m hoping that that will see us show some further signs of progress this weekend.
“We have been unfortunate in qualifying so far and fell victim to the many red flags at Croft a couple of weekends back. If we can put a proper lap together this time round and put ourselves in the mix, we could be in for a really interesting weekend.”
Track action this weekend begins on Saturday with free practice sessions commencing at 09:35 and 12:10, before the all-important qualifying session kick starts at 15:20. Race day on Sunday sees the three showpiece events of the weekend scheduled for 12:20, 14:50 and 17:10 starts respectively.