Speed and frustration for Morgan north of the Border

After three troubled race meetings, the Accrington Flyer was eager to bounce back at a circuit traditionally well suited to the Mercedes. Adam was on the money straight away, taking sixth fastest time in the opening practice session, run in damp-but-drying conditions. On a dry road, the car was 12th fastest in the second session with the all-important qualifying session next.

A heavy rain shower before the session began left the track soaking and Adam was affected as the car felt different from earlier in the day. “We struggled in the wet but are not sure why. The car was stronger in the dry so we had to wait until the track dried out. There was a red flag which meant that we had more time for the road to dry up and we put slicks on late in the session and went for it!”
 
Adam stormed to 10th on the grid and battled hard in the opening 24-lap race to secure eighth place and boost the team’s morale.
 
“It was great to be in the points again after the first race. The track changed a bit overnight so we lost some rear-end grip, but that was a good race. I had a tough battle with Dave Newsham’s Chevrolet Cruze and then with Matt Neal’s Honda but I was determined not to lose places.”
 
Adam was set to line up eighth on the grid for race two but at the end of the installation lap there was drama as fluid was leaking from the power steering system. It was identified as a leak from a 25 pence O-ring and that was replaced in the pit lane, the team’s hopes helped by a red flag that stopped the race after a first corner accident. That gave the hard-working Ciceley guys more time to work and they had Adam’s car race-ready for the restart. However, there was more disappointment as the power steering pipe started to leak again and it as found post-race that it was a broken coupling that necessitated a power steering pump change before race three.
 
That meant that Adam would start race three from 26th on the grid at a track where overtaking is tough with a lap measuring just 1.27 miles long. Adam was on his toes straight from the start and battled his way through the pack in a race twice interrupted with safety cars. With the car behaving as it should, Adam stormed through the traffic to bag 17th place at the end, just missing out on more championship points but encouraged by the pace of the car.

“Oh, it’s tough right now, isn’t it?” reflected Adam at the end of the weekend. “We lost a bit of pace in the opening race because the track felt different but that was no real problem, but the power steering problem in race two really hurt us because it was a retirement and then the back of the grid for the next race. Here, it is hard to overtake so you have to take a few risks and I was really trying in that third race and nearly got in the points."
 
“We have shown again that we have the pace but we need some luck now, that’s all."
 
Ciceley Motorsport’s Commercial Director Norman Burgess said: “Two things have shone through this weekend. One is that Adam is one of the most determined drivers on the grid and the other is the dedication of our Ciceley Motorsport mechanics. They worked wonders to get Adam’s car out again for race two and then had to work doubly hard to change the power steering pump for race three. They have done us proud and to see Adam pushing the car through the pack was great to see in the final race. We are all feeling the pain at the moment but after an incredible run of points and finished with no mechanical problems, we are now experiencing the other side of the coin. However, we are all determined to combat this and we will be back at the front again."
 
Adam now lies 12th in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship with the next races at Rockingham, Northamptonshire, on August 26/27.