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HARD KNOCKS AT KNOCKHILL
04/09/2006
Rounds 22-24 of the British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill were nothing less than dramatic this weekend. Two second place finishes, both subsequently taken away, and a storming drive from the back of the grid to finish 4th in the 3rd and final race – Darren definitely learnt from the school of hard knocks on his third weekend appearance for SEAT Sport UK.
Having qualified first and second, Jason Plato and Darren led all the way in the wet race to take the chequered flag in those positions, despite coming under great pressure in the closing stages. However, after the race Darren was given a 20 second penalty following protests that he had been more than the allowed five car lengths behind Jason at the restart, following the first of two Safety Car periods. As Darren says, “They told me on the radio to keep five car lengths between Jason and my car but it’s kind of hard to judge that when you’re in the car. There was only 1.2 seconds between me and Jason as we crossed the start line; it was a close call.
“I was really happy with my pace in the first race so it was disappointing to pick up the penalty. It didn’t affect the outcome of the race and nobody won anything by protesting and only I lost, but you have to take these things on the chin. There was no point grizzling about it and we set out to maximise what we could in the second race.”
Because of the said penalty, Darren started the second race of the day from 10th on the grid and really enjoyed himself in his fight through the field to finish a magnificent 2nd. However, before the start of the race the team had removed the success ballast from his car, mistakenly thinking that they need not carry it (when starting 10th) when in fact the success ballast collected for finishing 2nd place still applied. Darren’s car was therefore underweight at the post-race weigh-in and for the second race in a row his podium finish was taken from him as he was excluded from the results.
Darren talks through the end to an emotional day. “I had to start the last race from the back of the grid, but I battled my way up to fourth position. I had a little bit of contact with Fabrizio Giovanardi and I wasn’t too happy with the way I got passed him because it wasn’t the cleanest of moves. I had a good move on Gavin Smith which got me up to fourth and, although it would have been nice to have finished the day with a podium, it was good to finish where I did having started from the back of the grid.
“I was very happy with the car all day, it was very good, and I just got more and more confident with it as the weekend wore on and I really enjoyed racing back at Knockhill after ten years. I’m pleased with my performance this weekend, although I’m still not completely in tune with the Leon –it still does things sometimes during a race that I don’t understand. There are a lot of little things which will come with time and experience, but after this weekend I feel that I’m not chasing the pack any more and that I’m part of the pack and can give as good as I get.
Darren’s next BTCC race will be at Brands Hatch on September 23/24, and the following week he will be returning to Aston Martin Racing duty for the 1,000 mile Petit Le Mans event in Georgia, USA.
For further details on his BTCC outings, go to www.seatsportuk.co.uk
Darren, 34, lives near Banbury in Oxfordshire. Successful in many different categories of motorsport, his most notable and high profile victories have been at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the British Touring Car Championship. He's a firm favourite with teams, fans, and media alike from around the world.
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