North Yorkshire’s Croft Circuit hosts the annual visit of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship this coming weekend, where fan-favourite racer Michael Crees aims to put together his strongest set of results of 2022 and head into the summer break on a high.
Last time out, at Oulton Park Island Circuit just over a week ago, the CarStore Power Maxed Racing driver from Kent was on course to take away a hat-trick of Independents Trophy podiums but an unfortunate multi-car incident in the third encounter ended those hopes with Creesy caught-up in the aftermath.
It was a classic case of what his first season back in the BTCC since 2020 has been like, strong race performances, great pace but a major dollop of misfortune as well. If anyone is due a trouble-free weekend as the first half of the season concludes, and due some deserved reward for big progress with his Hybrid-powered No.777 Vauxhall Astra over the campaign so far, it’s Creesy.
Even so, the overall trajectory has most certainly been going in the right direction for the popular Broadstairs sportsman with a trio of Independents top three results from the last four races and a career-best outright top eight finish at ultra-fast Thruxton at the end of May.
Going into rounds 13, 14 and 15 this weekend, Creesy is just 12 points shy of the top five in the Independents Trophy standings and knows full well the importance a strong event will have as a springboard into the summer break.
Of course, Croft is the second furthest track from home on the BTCC calendar for the Glencar Construction, Geberit, DDS Group, PCS, Fire Control Services, CTD, Blue Rock Systems, Aquadart and BITA supported racer, so a lengthy 300-plus mile journey awaits a couple of days from now.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, he said: “I’m really excited to get to Croft and try and put together a really strong weekend, you always want to go into the summer break on a high and with some positive results behind you. Croft is a fantastic track with a really good mix of elements – two long straights and great corners like Clervaux, the Jim Clark Esses and the Sunnys. It’s a circuit you can attack and I’m aiming to do just that.
“Last time we were there back in 2020 we had some pretty bad luck, so I want to put that right and keep the momentum we’ve been building going. Yes the final race last time out at Oulton was really unfortunate, wrong place, wrong time, but the two other races were strong for us and we’re making good steps all the time. Let’s see if we can push for that first Independents win at the weekend!”
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