Rob ends season on a high with second win

Rounds 28, 29 & 30 of the 2005 British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch
October 1/2, 2005

Victory in final race of the year!

There was a champagne finale to the 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship for Rob Collard, as the Hampshire racer scorched to his second BTCC victory in the final race of the season, watched by friends, family, sponsors and tens of thousands of fans.

Rob, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Saturday, qualified in seventh position for round 28 of the championship and was running in the same position in the race until he was pushed into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend by Gareth Howell. Despite trying to drive through, Rob was forced to retire as the West Surrey Racing MG's front splitter dug into the gravel.

After the race, Rob said, "In that race, the clutch slipped off the line. We actually got the jump on most people and I was going past Matt (Neal), but when I went into second gear, it just hit the rev limiter. Nothing I could do, so I then lost two or three places on the first lap on the run into Paddock. Then I sort of just buckled down. I was up behind Turkington for a few laps. He was really slowing me up, but after a few laps I managed to get by him and then just went about catching everybody else up and putting some moves on people. I got past Gareth quite easily, and quite cleanly I felt, only to be torpedoed off at Paddock by him, which is an identical move to what he did to me two years ago."

Race two saw Rob and the WSR crew play a strategical game, finishing tenth and taking pole position for the final race of the day.

Rob said, "Race two, we sort of knew we were going to finish tenth. We thought we'd give it a bit of a go at the start and if everybody falls off and the gaps open up then we'll go for it, but it didn't happen, so the team came on the radio and just said 'cruise home and come in tenth', so that's what we did. It's a horrible feeling for a driver to do that, or it is for me. It's not natural for me, but that's what we did and it got me a front row grid slot for race three."

The plan worked to perfection as Rob led fellow MG driver Jason Hughes through Paddock for the first time. Hughes was passed by SEAT Sport UK's James Pickford for second as Rob began to open up a lead, only for the safety car to come out after three laps and close up the gap.

Rob takes up the story: "It was great to get away. We got a great start and got away and then the safety car came out and I just thought it was going to be Silverstone all over again, but luckily I got a good restart, got my head down and got away. The SEAT caught me up and Pickford put me under a bit of pressure. He got a run on me going down into Clearways but then thought he'd stay on the outside of me at Clearways and nobody in their right mind would try and go around the outside of somebody at Clearways. They know they're going to run out of track and end up going off. That's what happened and it then left a big gap for me to cruise home unopposed."

So the final race of the year sees Rob double his BTCC win tally, and the 2003 Independents' Champion finishes the Indy championship in third this year, behind only the dominant Team Halfords pairing of Matt Neal and Dan Eaves. In the overall Drivers' Championship, Rob ends the season in seventh - his best ever performance.

Rob would like to thank all those that have supported him throughout the year. Keep checking collardracing.co.uk for all the latest news on Rob's activities over the coming months!