Tristan Ovenden was on the podium in the opening round of the 2016 season although the weekend wasn’t without its challenges.

It was Ovenden’s first outing in the British Championship driving the Peter Gwynne Motorsport prepared and run Suzuki Swift S1600.

The ever flexible Ovenden settled down well and showed his usual smooth driving style for practice and heat one. Going into heat two Ovenden found himself sitting in 9th overall position in an amalgamated Supernational, Super 1600, Hot hatch and BMW Mini class.

However, a rare mistake with the gears whilst entering the first loose section damaged the car and effectively ended his day. He had done just enough to snatch a podium place finishing third in class scoring valuable championship points.  

Ovenden will now look toward round two at his home circuit of Lydden Hill over the Easter weekend Sunday 27thand Monday 28th March. Where he hopes to continue his assault on the Super 1600 title for this year.

Speaking after the weekends racing, Ovenden said: “We started the day well with the best lap time in practice and a good performance in the first heat. Unfortunately, in heat 2, I made a mistake with the gearbox and damaged the engine which ended our day. It’s obviously not the start to the season we wanted.

Thanks very much to our sponsors for their continued support and to Peter Gwynne Motorsport for a great car and we hope do better at Lydden.”

Images courtesy of Rubber duck does automotive photography