Tough weekend for AmD Milltek Racing.com at Brands Hatch

Sunday’s third round of races in the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch, Kent provided the toughest test yet for Shaun Hollamby and the AmD Milltek Racing.com team. With new entries increasing the grid to 22 cars, the battle for points was to become even more competitive. Saturday’s practice session went well, with the AmD Milltek Racing.com VW Golf 17th fastest in the first session. A half-second improvement was made in the second session and this progress was carried through to qualifying, where Hollamby posted his fastest time of the day, lapping the 2.3 mile Grand Prix circuit in 1m35.376 secs to secure 19th place on the grid for Sunday’s first race.

The day was not without incident, though, with the Golf’s rear window being shattered late in the second practice session by a stone thrown up by another car.

With torrential rain falling on Sunday, Hollamby made a good start to the first race and was running strongly in 17th place when he was forced to retire on lap 5, the Golf having suffered a loss of drive. The problem was traced to a displaced driveshaft caused by the wet race set-up.

The deluge wet weather continued for race 2 and, with adjustments made to the set-up, Hollamby was able to make good progress, working his way up to 14th place. With two laps remaining, the treacherous conditions caught Hollamby out and the Golf spun onto the grass at the fast Surtees corner.

The front bumper was ripped off and went underneath the car but, with less than two laps remaining and the prospect of securing further Independent Team points, Hollamby elected to finish the race, unaware that the Golf’s radiator had also been damaged. The car was unable to make it to the chequered flag, overheating and retiring on the final lap. A damaged water pump was to prove terminal and the AmD Milltek Racing.com Golf had to be withdrawn prior to the final race.

With the next round of the BTCC taking place on 6th June at Oulton Park, Cheshire, the AmD Milltek Racing.com team have plenty of time to carry out repairs and improvements to the Golf to ensure that Hollamby is able to line up on the grid.

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