Valencia Report

Boardman battles brake problems in Valencia

Tom Boardman battled with brake problems with his www.club-seat.co.uk supported SEAT Leon throughout the FIA World Touring Car Championship race weekend in Valencia – and despite making a brilliant start in race one and two, problems saw him slip back and finish 6th and 7th in the Independent Trophy category.

It was a frustrating weekend for Tom, especially as he knows the 2.5 mile Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia better than any other track on the WTCC calendar. Indeed, the last time he race there in October 2008, the 25-year old driver from Forton in Lancashire dominated the SEAT Leon Supercopa race meeting – qualifying on pole, winning race one and setting the fastest lap time in two of the three races.

This time, Tom set the 3rd best Independent time in the second free practice session, but his 1min 46.353sec was the best lap time he would be able to clock all weekend, as brake problems began to raise their ugly head.

Tyre pressure problems added to his woes during qualifying, as Tom was over a second slower in his SUNRED Engineering entered Leon, qualifying 6th best Independent (and 19th overall).

Tom made a brilliant start in race one and kept to a tight inside line at the notorious first corner – making up several places as cars ahead of him collided and ran wide. In fact, he was up to 12th overall at the end of the opening lap – ahead of Andy Priaulx(BMW), who had started five places ahead of him. Tom held the 3rd Independent position until the second half of the race, when brake problems – combined with steering and air-box damage – saw him drop down to 6th at the flag, having been overtaken on the last lap by Franz Engstler (BMW).

In race two, Tom made another good start, but once again brake problems slowed his smart black Leon and, unable to defend his position into corners, he dropped back down the field to finish 7th Independent.

Despite all the problems, Tom managed to finish both races and score five points tomaintain his 5th position on the Independents’ table, 16 points behind former champion Stefano D’Aste (BMW).

Boardman said: “It’s a real shame we’ve had so many problems with the car in Valencia, because I know the circuit so well and I was really confident of doing well.

“I made a great start in race one and from experience I knew that it was best to stay tight on the inside line, and when others ran wide and through the gravel I was able to keep out of trouble and gain a lot of places.  I was able to race hard for the first half of the race before problems forced me to slow.  I was a sitting duck after that, and it was really frustrating to see so many cars overtake me in the closing stages.

“Race two was pretty similar. I never give up and always try to do my best, but with so little time to repair the car between races I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the problems came back. Sure enough, when they did I started going backwards again.”

Rounds 11 and 12 of the WTCC take place in Brno in the Czech Republic on June 20-21.