Buckell up

If I’m running around panicking, then everyone else is running around panicking

I love the variety of my job, and I suppose that’s why I’ve never bothered to do anything else

It’s the first of the three British Touring Car races of the day at Oulton Park at the beginning of August. The West Surrey Racing (WSR)-run BMW 330i M Sport of Tom Oliphant is tapped into a spin by a rival car at Lodge Corner, and then collected by another as it lies prone across the track. It receives two crunching hits, one to the back and one to the driver’s side. In the words of the team’s chief mechanic, Steve Buckell, the rear end is ‘under the windscreen’.

If this was a road car, it would be heading for the scrapyard, no question. But this is the BTCC, and this is WSR. There’s about two hours until race two, and it’s impossible to make the required repairs in time for that, but four hours before the final race of the day, and the car missing two races is simply not an option.

This is the