Rob Collard ruled out until Silverstone

Rob Collard will miss the next two rounds of the BTCC season on medical grounds following two heavy incidents during the most recent round of the campaign at Snetterton.

Collard was involved in a start-line incident in race one of the weekend and then went off into the barriers at Riches in race two, causing damage to his WSR-run BMW 125i M Sport that couldn’t be repaired at the circuit.

The second incident also left Collard with concussion and having already been under observations by TOCA’s medical team following his accident at Silverstone last year, the 49-year-old has now been told to sit out the next two rounds of the year at Rockingham and Knockhill in order to fully recover.

“After suffering a serious concussion in a crash at Silverstone in 2017, I was cleared to return to racing earlier this year while remaining under close monitoring by the TOCA medical team,” he said. “Following a pair of high-speed, high-impact accidents in Races One and Two at Snetterton, and after reviewing the results of a concussion test with the medics at the track, it was ruled that I was unfit to participate in the special ‘Diamond Double’ race and that I should not race at Rockingham or Knockhill either.

“I’m absolutely gutted for Team BMW, all my sponsors and supporters and I’d like to thank the TOCA medical team for their professionalism and support, as always.”

A replacement driver for Collard will be revealed in the coming days.