Andy Wilmot has endured a tough start to his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car debut season but he finally turned a corner at Thruxton last time out.

Wilmot managed to do something that he hadn’t in the opening two rounds of the season and that was finish the three races across the weekend. That was his only aim for the weekend and it gives him a platform to build on for the upcoming race weekends.

Speaking exclusively to Kent Sports News, Andy said: “It is definitely a step in right direction, it is where we wanted to be, the only goal that I set for the weekend and I didn’t care where we finished or how we finished, as long as we finished all three races.

“We wanted to get some reliability under our belts and it seems that we have found that now from last weekend.”

Whilst there were still issues to deal with throughout the weekend there were improvements that were made race by race.

Andy added: “In myself there was, obviously I haven’t had a lot of time in the car. There wasn’t much improvement in the way of the car, once it worked it worked. We didn’t want to alter anything to much through the Sunday, we kept it simple and were almost running full boost.”

In races one and two Andy finished one lap down on the leaders and in race three he finished on the same lap to show the progress that has been made.

“Basically in race one we went out on the warm-up lap and we had a battery terminal that was unfortunately not done up, and had fallen off. Kindly the marshals just before Church corner when I pulled in there to get the car off the track, actually fixed the car and pushed me back out again.

“I started the car and went round to join the grid, obviously we aren’t allowed to join the grid so I started from the pit lane. When you start from the pit lane you are starting with cold tyres and by the time you get out, the cars are pretty much up to speed and a half a lap in front of you.

“I wasn’t really concentrating on to much apart from when the leaders come through I have got to stay out of the way as I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s race.

“With race two there was the same thing again but with different circumstances, I was actually on the grid and I had no throttle. I was trying to accelerate and I didn’t have anything and had to pretty much go into the pits on tick over. Luckily enough my position on the grid was by the pit lane entrance, so I managed to get into the pits, park up and that was that.

“Race three I managed to start on the grid, I didn’t get a great start and was theoretically last but had Matt Neal, Tom Ingram and Andy Priaulx behind me and I didn’t want to ruin their weekend, so I tried to stay out of their way.

“I managed to stay out of the way, I caught up with Stuart Lines, Derek Palmer and Martin Donnelly and giving them a good race. I managed to overtake Lines and stayed with Palmer, although I did have another electrical issue which may well have been fuel surge.

“It was good progress though and we ended the weekend and I was smiling because we finished three races, although the performance wasn’t completely there. It was just the fact that we have shown reliability and I accomplished the goal that I set out to do this weekend.”

There were definitely positives which Andy can take from the Thruxton weekend and into the upcoming races starting with Oulton Park.

He said: “To be honest having a gap before the next race is good in one way, as there is still a fair amount that we have to do on the car. We have got to get the car on a rolling road and map the car while it is on the rolling road.

“We have got that bit more time to get the car that bit more reliable and that bit more competitive. I do believe that the guys will get closer and closer. Now we have found the issue with the main engine problem we should move forward, every race weekend we are going to get closer and closer.

“There will be a shakedown before the Oulton Park weekend which will be a decent amount of time which will add a few more miles and hours to the engine, and try and check the reliability. I genuinely think that the main problems have passed and it is getting these electrical things sorted out and we will be ok.

“I had a terrible Saturday, it was just a disaster and I thought that was going to be the weekend over with. In free practice one we had a crank shaft sensor go and then in free practice two we had a gearbox issue, there was oil leaking into the housing which was making the clutch slip.

“Between free practice two and qualifying we had to take the gearbox out and the engine out, strip down the gearbox and find the problem. It ended up not being just the main seal of the gearbox, but one inside that was making the oil come through the shaft.

“We put it all back together and get out on time for qualifying and the engine decided to let go around about lap ten. We didn’t get in a flying lap, because we had missed so much of free practice one and two we were just trying to get some laps in and learn the circuit. We got through the qualifying for the race as we had done over three laps.”

With the amount of issues that Andy had over the course of one race weekend, it is tough to see how he has remained so positive and upbeat but he has.

He added: “It was probably the most stressful weekend, where we have got over the issues of the engine we had all these other niggles through free practice and then the engine did let go, I was just like come on.

“Obviously my teammate damaged his car in free practice, so I ended up taking his engine. At least beforehand we knew at Brands Hatch on the Sunday we knew that we wouldn’t be out so we knew that there was no pressure as it was weekend done and dusted, so we just watched the racing.

“At Donington again, we didn’t have too much grief on the Saturday but on the Sunday, in race one it was weekend done and dusted. There wasn’t too much drama, it was drama in just the one session whereas at Thruxton we had a drama in six sessions.

“The guys know what they have got to do and they all work so hard and it is upsetting for them but they just want to see the car out there as much as I do. There are so many people who send messages and shake my hand and say well done for sticking with it and putting on a brave face.

“Apparently we got the biggest cheer of the weekend when I actually passed one of the cars down the pit straight. A lot of the guys have come up to me from the pit wall and said you got the biggest cheer of the weekend when you overtake a car.

“I think it is just people feeling sorry for me, but at the end of the day everyone knows how much it costs and how much passion and heart goes into doing it. At the end of the day, I started with zero money and I have done it all through sponsorship and it has been a long struggle to get where I am.

“To have this happen it has been absolutely sole destroying and it is gutting, I am literally putting a brave face for my sponsors and telling them it will be alright.”

It definitely will be for Andy when all the issues are ironed out he believes that it will be onwards and upwards for his season.

He said: “I do think it will be, when the engine is completely 100% and is correctly mapped to the car. They have learnt a hell of a lot, in the past season and this they have been thrown everything. Every hurdle they have come across they have jumped over and tried to rectify the fault. When they get it right it will be a good engine, I can’t imagine that is going to be far away.”

Images courtesy of www.psp-images.co.uk