My first season in the BMW Pirtek Racing BMW 125i M Sport produced some extreme highs – wins at Brands Hatch at the opening meeting of the year, from the front row at the majestic Oulton Park in May and from pole position at Rockingham in August – and a few lows when luck and mechanical problems got in the way, but the finale at Brands came down to a nail-biting fight for Manufacturers’ honours.
Colin Turkington, who was going for his third Drivers’ Championship crown, and I were nominated to score points for BMW so it was important to score as many as possible as the BTCC has a habit of throwing up surprises right until the bitter end.
The car felt good in the opening free-practice session and I ended up fastest of the BMWs in 10th. It was difficult to know where that put us in the overall pecking order though, as it was early days.
I was a fraction quicker in the second session but only 15th, albeit still quickest of the three BMWs. I lost a bit of overall balance in the car as we tried a few things on old and new rubber. You have to be able to read into what the new tyres are going to do, and when, and my relative lack of experience of rear-wheel drive probably doesn’t make that any easier. I’ll be all over that next year!