It was a tough, yet ultimately successful weekend for Airwaves Racing as they came back from Croft circuit with a total of 44 points between their two drivers with one podium finish.

The team also returned, however with their some damage to the cars, which they now have 5 weeks to fix and improve before the next round of the British Touring Car Championship in Snetterton.

Their weekend did not start as they would have hoped with Fabrizio Giovanardi and Mat Jackson finishing qualifying in 18^th and 15^th place respectively in some disruptive conditions in Yorkshire.

With a lot of work for both drivers they needed to be able to begin their first race well in order to begin a successful weekend and both driers began well and after a good performance from both drivers meant that they were able to close the gap between themselves and their Team BMR rivals with Giovanardi finishing in 12^th position with Jackson taking 8^th.

The second race of the weekend was very similar to the first for the two drivers as they were both able to manoeuvre around various incidents to keep up with the pace set by the BTCC leaders.

A grid reshuffle for the start of the third race meant that Giovanardi would start in second with Jackson beginning the final race of the weekend in 5^th, however, after two cars tangled in front of him, the Italian was able to comfortably go into first position for the opening laps but his joy was short- lived as after 5 laps he was hit from behind by eventual winner Andrew Jordan meaning that, despite his best efforts, he was unable to complete the race.

This DNF meant that the team’s hope for points fell to Mat Jackson whose final third race was not without controversy as he contested for the final two podium places throughout the race with Gordon Shedden and Robert Collard, this lead to some exciting, physical racing in which Jackson finished 4^th; however, later in the day he was promoted to third after Sheddon was given a four second penalty for his contact with the Airwaves Racer during the final stages of the race.

After the weekend’s racing was over Airwaves Racing’s team manager Oly Collins showed his delight at the day’s racing “All three drivers were outstanding today getting some really solid results. Race 3 is a case of what could have been for Fabrizio but for Andy Jordan’s desperate move on lap 1! Mat showed his class as he so often does on race day and Jack had his most competitive weekend so far.”

After Giovanardi was unable to finish the third race of the day, which was the team’s first DNF of the season, Collins continued to say “I was disappointed for the guys to lose our 100% finishing record as we were the only team who could boast that this year, which we’re all proud of but it was through nothing the team could have done. We have to work on our qualifying as that let us down this weekend.”

The BTCC now takes a five week break before the season continues on the 2^nd and 3^rd of August at Snetterton in Norfolk.

Pictures supplied by http://www.pspimages.co.uk/