Boss of Bidford-based Power Maxed Racing glad he did not throw the towel in

BOSS Adam Weaver admitted he had “come close” to giving it all up after Power Maxed Racing’s recent struggles in the British Touring Car Championship.

However, the team principal of Bidford-based PMR said he was “glad” he didn’t after seeing an upturn in fortunes in recent weeks, including positive results for Michael Crees and Ash Hand in the latest rounds at Thruxton.

“[It was] another weekend that demonstrated the power and resilience that comes with having the right team,” said Weaver. “It really is the key to every success.

“It is so hard to find the right people, and many give up because finding them is almost impossible. I can assure you I have come close on several occasions, these last few weekends make me feel so glad I didn’t.

“To come off such a tough weekend at Brands Hatch to then have issues thrown at us again, through absolutely no fault of our own or anyone in the team, is so frustrating, but to overcome them and get the solid results we achieved is testament to each and every one of them.”

The troubles at Thruxton started on Saturday morning as PMR could only run one car in the first free practice session due to Crees having engine running issues back in the garage after a manifold change.

Thankfully both cars made it out for free practice two and from there, PMR’s fortunes started to turn around, although Hand did pick up a tyre puncture in qualifying that fortunately did not have a major impact on proceedings.

Hand would line up 10th for the first race of the weekend after posting a time of 1:16.024 in qualifying, while Crees found himself lower down the order in 19th after clocking 1:16.533.

After the first few laps Hand had dropped down a couple of places, while Crees was slowly making his way up the order and by the final lap he was sitting pretty in 14th.

However, with one of the Hondas having an issue it meant Hand would finish where he started and Crees would be classified 13th after a fine recovery drive.

The second race proved to be just as positive for PMR, with Hand coming across the line in 10th and Crees in 12th to claim some more valuable points for the team.

Race three was more dramatic than the previous two as the safety car was deployed on lap three. By lap eight Crees was back in 12th, having dropped to 15th at the start, while Hand had moved his way up to 11th after falling down to 14th.

With five cars retiring from an eventful race, Crees recorded his personal best finish in eighth and Hand was right behind in ninth, securing his first podium in the championship with a Jack Sears win.

“We made some solid progress at the weekend with a consistent overall performance,” said Hand.

“I was pleased to win the Jack Sears Trophy only three rounds in. [It was] nice to be back on the podium and I moved up five places in the championship so it’s good progress.

“Now we need to look forward to the next race at Oulton Park to improve the pace in myself and the car and build our momentum as a team.”

Crees added: “We had everything thrown at us this weekend, from the electrical problems in practice to a misfire in qualifying, but we worked hard to battle through everything and the guys in the team did a great job.

“Race one was good and race two was pretty strong as well, we moved forward in both, and then the last one was fantastic. I was determined I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity in the last race, the car was good and I was able to push and really get stuck in. I’m over the moon to take my first independents podium of the year, and my best-ever overall result in the BTCC with eighth.”

Meanwhile, it proved to be a difficult weekend for Southam-based Laser Tools Racing.

In the first race Aidan Moffat climbed up two places to come home 15th in the final points-paying position, while team-mate Dexter Patterson would cross the line 20th having started 26th.

Race two was particularly disappointing for the duo, with Moffat finishing at the back of the pack two laps down and Patterson registering a DNF.

Patterson would end up with another DNF in the third and final race of the weekend, while Moffat drove well to finish just outside the points in 17th after starting 25th.

The next rounds of the British Touring Car Championship take place at Oulton Park on 11th-12th June.