Jack Clarke made further progress in his debut season in the British Touring Car Championship at the weekend.

It strengthens further the progress that the Crabbie’s Racing driver has made since picking up his first point at Donington Park two weeks ago in his Motorbase prepared Ford Focus.

The Surrey-based driver used both free practice sessions to acclimatise himself to the Thruxton aerodrome circuit having never raced a tin-top at the venue. In fact Jack’s last visit to the Andover track was back in 2006, driving a Formula BMW single-seater.

The 26-year-old was comfortable in the car, marking a step forward in pace as each session elapsed.  He was confident of a mid-grid position but his efforts were hampered by a blockage to the airflow into the engine which reduced its turbo capacity and at this ultra-fast circuit it hampered his qualifying considerably.  In spite of this be managed to line-up in 23^rd in the ultra-competitive BTCC field.

He managed to climb up to 19^th in the first race – getting used to the ‘elbows-out’ style of touring car racing – very different from the single seater-style of driving he has been used to in the past and in the second race a solid performance saw him net 18^th as the flag dropped at the end of the race. Jack was happy with his pace, setting respectable times a fraction off his seasoned Motorbase stable-mates, Mat Jackson and double BTCC Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi.

The final race of the day was an incident filled one with two safety car periods. Jack was ‘tapped’ by another competitor and lost control of the Crabbie’s Focus at the first complex. A quick pit stop to rectify the damage enabled Jack to re-join at the back of the pack without losing too much time. From 26^th Jack used some racing aggression to pass a few cars on the track, salvaging 22^nd, a result which was not a true reflection of the pace recently unlocked by Clarke and the team. Despite the incident the BTCC new-comer keeps his 100% finishing record as his education continues in the no hold barred BTCC.

Giving his thoughts on his weekend’s action, Jack said: “It was a shame we had problems in the qualifying. Thruxton is a very difficult circuit for overtaking but I am relatively pleased with my overall performance. We struggled with under-steer in the first race, cured it in the second and found a second on lap time to get us further up the pack.

“By the third race, the car was set-up perfectly, really on the money and we were at our most competitive this weekend until I was undeservedly ‘taken out’ at the first complex and that sadly ruined our race. We may not have got the result we wanted but we have improved the car.

“I still need more seat time and want to squeeze some testing in before Oulton Park, a circuit where the team have gone well at in the past and I am still driving towards the top 15 which is our target for the upcoming rounds.”