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The curtain falls on Mark Blundell’s debut campaign in the British Touring Car Championship this weekend as the series rolls into Brands Hatch for its season finale. Fresh off the back of a point-scoring weekend at Silverstone just a fortnight ago, Blundell heads into the final round of the season looking to sign off in style.
Just over six months on from making his BTCC debut at the Kent-based track in April earlier this year, Blundell and the Trade Price Cars Racing team return to familiar territory to take on the 2.433 mile Brands Hatch GP circuit. Competing on the shorter Indy circuit for the season-opener, the former Formula One driver enjoyed a positive debut weekend finishing inside the points-paying positions in his very first race and will be looking for similar success this weekend.
Showing continued signs of progress through the second half of the campaign, Blundell enjoyed his most positive showing to date at the penultimate round at Silverstone just two weeks ago. Battling back from suffering damage in race one, Blundell fought the changeable conditions to cross the line in P13 in race three - his highest finish of the season to date.
Heading south in positive mood this weekend, Blundell is determined to make the most of his last outing for the year and illustrate the progress he has made across the year.
“It feels like no time at all since we were at Brands earlier this year for the season-opener which I suppose is a good sign! Everything was completely new to me back then and although there have been some bumps on the road, I’m glad we’ve taken some strides forward in recent weeks.”
“I’ve been lucky to have great support all year from the team around me and all our programme partners. The plan is to get out there this weekend and give it our all to end the year on a high and send a huge thanks to all those who have supported me this year!”
Track action commences on Saturday morning with two free practice sessions leading up to the all-important qualifying session at 15:05. The first race of the day on Sunday starts at 11:35 before races two and three commence at 14:10 and 17:00 respectively.
Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography