British Touring Car Championship newbie Andrew Watson has said his self-confidence is peaking at exactly the right moment as the battle to win the Jack Sears Trophy enters the closing stretch.
With only three triple headers remaining, Watson has manoeuvred himself to within striking distance of provisional Trophy leader Mikey Doble who has chalked up a total of 308 points after 21 races.
What makes an already exciting duel all the more compelling is that both Watson – who made the switch to the tin top series at the beginning the year after successful spells as a GT racer with McLaren, Aston Martin and Porsche – is the team-mate of Doble at CarStore Power Maxed Racing.
A first overall career podium in race one at Knockhill a fortnight ago combined with P9 in the day’s second sprint were enough to outweigh his lowly sixteenth place finish in the reverse grid contest due to a faulty windscreen wiper on his Vauxhall Astra making visibility in the rain a challenge.
“Knockhill was a complete rollercoaster but obviously the main news was my first podium in the British Touring Car Championship. It was incredible to get that even if things did not quite go the way I would have liked in the third race with the windscreen wiper failure,” said the Northern Irishman.
This weekend the competition returns to the iconic GP layout at Donington Park for the first time since 2003 in a move that has been widely welcomed by teams and drivers – including Watson.
He experienced the 2.49-mile ribbon of Tarmac for the first time in a touring car at the Goodyear Tyre Test last month and believes that will put him in a very good place for rounds 22, 23 and 24.
But whereas who came where on the leader board was largely inconsequential back then, times are going to be much more significant come 3.40pm on Saturday when a 30-minute qualifying session to construct the grid for the following day’s opening 14-lap race takes place.
“I am really looking forward to Donington Park this weekend,” continued Watson. “It is probably the best prepared for a race that I have been this year because we have raced the National circuit already and we also had a good tyre test on the Grand Prix loop during the summer break recently.
“The car felt good on both those occasions – and Knockhill was such a strong weekend for the whole team – so my confidence is definitely up. I am learning more and more about front-wheel-drive and racing in the British Touring Car Championship all the time.
“Hopefully we can score some more good points and capitalise on the good spirits we are all in. I am looking forward to it,” he added.
Keyword: Watson feeling well prepared ahead of Donington GP return