After the highs of Thruxton, Michael Crees experienced the lows of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship last weekend at Silverstone.
Unfortunately a series of issues resulted in three DNFs in the weekends races at the home of British motorsport.
A disappointing qualifying session would see Crees qualify in 23rd for the opening race on Sunday, having suffered with balance and set-up all session.
Race one unfortunately didn’t really get going from the Broadstairs racer, after making up a few places in the opening laps. He was sent into a spin at the Maggott’s-Becketts complex, leaving him beached in the gravel trap.
This meant that for race two he would be starting from the back of the grid with it all to do. Starting from the back of the grid, Crees was making excellent progress to close-in on the points-scoring zone before an engine failure forced him into the pits on lap 14, recording his second DNF finish of the day.
Racing against the clock before the final contest, the BTC Racing crew completed a full engine change on the #777 Type R ensuring that Crees made the grid with just minutes to spare.
Unfortunately that would be the end of the race weekend for him, as they went off onto the citing lap of the restarted race three following the crash for Rory Butcher, an oil leak saw Crees pull into the pits and out of the race.
Speaking after a terrible weekend, Crees said: “After the highs of last weekend at Thruxton, this was a weekend to forget. We had mechanical problems in qualifying which upset the balance of the car, and meant that we were way down and out of position in P23. We changed the set-up for race 1, and the car felt really good before we were taken out.
“Starting from the back of the grid in race two, we had a good start getting up to 17th and then the engine blew. The lads all did a mega job to get me back out onto the grid for race 3, and we had another good start before the red flag. Unfortunately, we had another engine fault, with an oil leak and it was game over.
“After what happened in race 3 though, I just feel really happy that Butcher is ok after his crash. That’s what really matters.”
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