Last time out in the VW Cup it didn’t quite go according to plan for Tom Barley at the home of racing, Silverstone.

Tom worked hard in the run up to the race and to not come away with anything to show for his efforts is frustrating for him.

Speaking about the work that he did ahead of the race weekend, with fellow Team Hard member Jack Goff, he said: “There’s always a lot that goes into the preparation of a race weekend, so yes it’s frustrating but you have to keep motivated and look forward to the next round.”

The issues started for Tom in qualifying when he suffered mechanical issues and they are the kind you really don’t want to have on a race track, and then it continued during the races as he explains.

He added: “Braking is never something that you want to be uncomfortable with, but I just had to try to drive around it as much as possible.

“We had an issue in race one with a front ball joint braking. The car was a handful to say the least, unsettled under braking and then sideways in the corners. It was actually a lot of fun to drive, but not particularly fast. I was happy to finish 13th with such handling characteristics, but knew that with the issues sorted I’d go forward in race one.

“Race two started ideally. I was up to 10th after three corners. I got off the line well, and I got the best lone into the first corner.

“Unfortunately yes, this sort of racing provokes contact so you have to expect it to a certain extent, but that was a fair bit harder than normal, and sent the car out of control. The damage it caused was the most frustrating part, meaning the race came to an end.”

When that contact came in race two Tom did extremely well to hang onto the car and keep it on the race track, but you can hear in the footage that there is some damage to the car.

“At its most sideways point I was slightly concerned to say the least! It’s always good to catch a good slide though!

“At first I was just happy to have caught the slide without losing a place! Then once I turned the wheel onto the main straight I knew exactly what that noise was. I knew I had to pull off, or risk a high speed puncture.

Despite the weekend not going quite to plan there were plenty of positives for Tom to take from the weekend.

He said: “Absolutely. The pace was there in race two and I would like to think another top eight was available for the taking. Ultimately I have to take that confidence on to Snetterton. I need some good results at Snetterton. It’s time for a bit of luck to go my way!”

In between VW Cup races Tom will be on track at Brands Hatch, as he takes part in the American Speedfest in his Camaro, and he is looking forward to it.

He added: “The historic cars are a huge amount of fun. I’m racing it next weekend at Brands Hatch in the US Speedfest in the all V8 race. Fingers crossed for a great weekend.

“There’s less pressure in a sense, but it’s just as competitive at the front, and it’s such a big social event for us to race at these historic meetings that I have a lot of friends and family there. That adds a bit of pressure, but I don’t let that get to me. It’s going to be a great meeting.”

Check out Tom in the race here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zirHHZI1GMs&feature=youtu.be