The debut season in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is coming to an end for Jack Clarke at Brands Hatch this weekend.
It has been an excellent first season for the Crabbie’s Racing driver and it has got better as the season has gone on, including three points finishes in the last round at Silverstone.
That penultimate meeting of the BTCC saw a marked improvement for Clarke as he continued his touring car education. Two 13th-place finishes and a top ten result put the 26-year-old right into the racing mix at the sharp end of the 31-car field.
The Surrey driver’s touring car journey began at Brands Hatch back in March on the shorter Indy circuit. At the very start of his BTCC career, Jack ran just outside the top 15 as he got to grips with elbows out tin-top style racing.
His progress in 2014 has been impressive as his form has improved round on round throughout his rookie year. At the second meeting at Donington Park, he broke into the points and over the latter part of the season he has been consistently finishing in the points-paying positions, dicing with the likes of reigning BTCC champion Andrew Jordan and previous champions Fabrizio Giovanardi and Gordon Shedden.
Clarke has notched up seven points finishes from the last eight races and cracked the top ten last time at Silverstone. As the BTCC returns to Brands, he hopes to continue his impressive form and edge his way further towards the front.
This time, the 31strong field will thunder around the iconic, undulating 2.43-mile Grand Prix circuit for the tin-top showdown. Clarke has had plenty of experience at his home circuit having raced single-seaters for a number of years at the Kent venue. Indeed, Jack’s last visit saw him net victory in the FIA Formula Two Championship back in 2011.
Speaking ahead of the finale at Brands Hatch, Jack said: “We hope it will be dry at Brands Hatch for everyone involved, as we have been quite lucky all season but we do go well in the wet if the rain does decide to make an appearance. I want to get the car set up and dialled in as soon as we can so that we can shift our focus to the strategy for Sunday’s races. The target is to recreate Silverstone’s performance, but this time I would like to get into the single digits.
“The Grand Prix layout is one of my favourite circuits in the UK, if not the world. It has everything – it is a real drivers’ track. There are some lovely fast, flowing corners and some real testing ones including Paddock Hill Bend. It is really exhilarating, and certainly not for the feint-hearted!”
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