Oliphant Shows Fighting Spirit At Silverstone

Tom Oliphant salvaged a brace of points finishes from an otherwise frustrating race day at Silverstone this past weekend (September 25/26) as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship entered the home stretch of the 2021 campaign.

Showing his fighting spirit during the eighth meeting of the year, the Team BMW driver was on the receiving end of contact around the Home of British Motor Racing - a reoccurring theme in his season.

Keen to bounce back from a frustrating three races at Croft, the BMW 330i M Sport racer spent Saturday’s two practice sessions fine-tuning his West Surrey Racing machine ahead of what turned out to be an ultra-competitive qualifying session.

With 29 of the 30-car field covered by less than a second, the 31-year-old left it late to set his best time however it wasn’t to be enough to progress into the Top Ten Showdown, ultimately settling for 12th place.

Race one would see the two-time race winner embroiled in a captivating battle for ninth place with team-mate Stephen Jelley and Jason Plato.

Moving up a place on the opening lap, Oliphant spent the entirety of the 22-lap bout hounding the back of Plato however a lack of straight line speed prevented him from making a move stick - leaving him to finish 11th.

As has happened on a number of occasions this season, Oliphant saw his hopes of progress baulked in race two after being the innocent victim of contact.

Whilst knocking on the door of the top ten, the BRDC Member received a hit from behind at Becketts which sent him tumbling down the order and on to finishing 21st.

Oliphant’s second points finish of the day came in the reverse grid encounter as he charged forward from the eleventh row. In what was a frenetic race, the former Ginetta GT4 Supercup champion showcased his overtaking prowess with a string of eye-catching moves.

Scything his way into the top 15, the rear-wheel-drive ace continued his fightback up to 11th in the end.

Tom Oliphant: “This weekend has been the same as many others this year; contact from other drivers which then scuppered my chances of a good result - it’s just really frustrating.”

“I didn’t manage qualifying as well as I could have done but from 12th I thought I’d be able to get in the top ten in race one. Although the car felt mega, I didn’t have an answer to others down the straights so just ended up holding station after the first lap.

“In race two I got a whack and that was that basically. Things sort of fell my way a bit in race three as I was able to showcase the pace I had, making up ten spots. It’s just a case of what could have been as usual.

“We’re off to Donington Park in a couple of weeks’ time and hopefully a bit of luck will fall my way. I’m going there with no weight so the aim is to qualify up near the front and chase after a few trophies!”

Rounds 25, 26 & 27 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship - the penultimate event of the 2021 season - takes place at Donington Park on October 9/10.

Image from Jakob Ebrey Photography.