Oulton Park, Cheshire, September 21st, 2003

Collard Wins BTCC Independents’ Title! Rob Collard won the 2003 British Touring Car Championship Independents Trophy at Oulton Park in Cheshire today, Sunday 21st September. The Hampshireman arrived with a slender one-point lead in the championship, but second place in class in both of the two 25-lap races was enough to give him the title, a triumph for his small family-run Collard Racing team against much bigger multi-car outfits.

In an emotional presentation ceremony on the BTCC podium, Rob was joined by son Ricky and ‘Rob’s Angels’, his female cheerleaders, who include wife Deborah, and who have cheered him home in the final meetings of the year, emphasising the unique family nature of his triumph.

“I feel really relieved – it’s been a fraught year,” said Rob, from Eversley, as he stepped off the podium. “We’ve had so much go on with the crashes, the emotions, and after the last meeting at Donington I thought we had really blown it. We had to dig deep and do exactly what we needed to today.

“Being up there on the podium with the trophy makes everything we have put into this year feel worthwhile. We’ve had a lot of sleepless nights worrying about our budget, we’ve used up a lot of favours with people, had so much help from all our friends – but that’s motor racing.

“In the final race I just wanted to get off the line as quick as we could. The first lap wasn’t too bad, and I was able to run at a comfortable pace. We were pulling away from my title rival, and then I knew we had it in the bag. The race seemed to go on forever.

“We’ve got the smallest team out there and we’ve proved that we can compete and win. We keep the car in a converted cowshed on a farm, have lots of volunteer help, and we’ve beaten all the professional Independent teams.” The weekend had started in style, Rob taking his Brackenwood Windows-backed Vauxhall Astra to his third consecutive Independents pole position, on a greasy track, tenth overall on the BTCC grid.

“The track was slippery,” said Rob but it’s all about having the confidence to push in the wet, and qualifying is king – it’s important to be quick.”

In Sunday’s opening race, held in front of a large crowd on the parkland circuit, Rob took second in Independents, and seventh overall, crucially finishing ahead of his closest rival in the points. It was not an easy race, the Astra not performing to Rob’s liking.

“The car wasn’t handling well,” explained Rob, “and we didn’t have the speed to really challenge. We were conservative on our set-up, we just have to be aware of where everyone else is in the second race, and drive with the championship in mind.”

Rob duly stayed clear of trouble in the final round of the 20-race season, taking the title by nine points.