Simon Belcher will be back at Oulton Park

Simon Belcher will be back for the British Touring Car Championship races at Oulton Park next weekend after his massive shunt at Thruxton a month ago.
“There isn’t a lot of time left but if everything goes to plan the car should be finished by Tuesday, then stickered-up by Wednesday”, said Belcher.

Belcher rolled his Toyota Avensis in a spectacular 200 km/h crash in the very fast Church corner at Thruxton. While Belcher walked unhurt from the crash, the repair work of the car has been tough.

“There’s been a bit of waiting around the last week or so with some parts not being available, but since Thruxton the Speedworks guys have been pretty much flat-out. The engine had to go back to Swindon [Engines] and the gearbox had to go away as well, it’s been a massive job. We’re just glad we’ve had one of the biggest gaps in the calendar to work in – if we’d only had a couple of weeks between races it wouldn’t have been possible. We’re trying to arrange a run in the car next Thursday but that all depends on availability at the circuits we can use,” said Belcher.

The team has received support from fans that have raised over £5,000 through, among other things, eBay auctions of t-shirts with ”I helped Simon out of the woods” printed on them.

“The fans have helped us out so much. I never quite realised just how incredible they are and how much support is there for the BTCC, I have to say a massive thank you to everyone who has got involved to make sure we’re back for Oulton. We’ve obviously got a budget for damage, just not on the scale of the damage caused at Thruxton – the cost has been huge,” said Belcher.

The 40-year-old’s best so far result this year is 18th overall and he is currently placed 12th in the Jack Sears Trophy.

“I’m raring to get back behind the wheel, when you fall off the horse you need to get straight back on. Oulton is very challenging from a driver’s point of view and I am really looking forward to it,” said Belcher.