Rudston’s Senna Proctor puts in strong BTCC display at Oulton Park
Team VERTU racing driver Senna Proctor has continued his good form with another very strong weekend at Oulton Park in his Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) return.
The EXCELR8 Motorsport run squad was at the famous Cheshire circuit with Rudston’s Proctor especially keen to maintain the impressive form displayed at the previous round of the BTCC which was his comeback meeting after three seasons away.
Saturday free practice sessions were somewhat disrupted with the changeable weather, but former Scarborough College student Proctor was able to progress onwards to the second session of qualifying and secure himself a race 1 start on the fifth row of the grid.
In an eventful opening race Proctor eventually crossed the line in eighth position, showing good pace on the highly technical and undulating 2.23-mile Oulton Park circuit.
For the second race of the day Proctor replicated his race one result with another eighth spot points finish despite the threat of a front puncture as damaged bodywork was rubbing on the soft slick tyre for a significant part of the race.
He was then drawn on the front row of the reverse grid finale.
Heavy rain prior to the start resulted in all drivers on the grid selecting the wet weather tyre for race three, which would be a messy affair affected by two safety car periods.
Proctor recovered from a poor start that dropped him down the order to battle back well and take a very impressive fifth place.
Proctor said: “It’s been another solid weekend where I’ve been able to pick up more decent points, and it’s good to have these two meetings under my belt before heading to Croft and my home circuit after the summer break.
“On the other hand, I do feel mixed emotions a bit in the final race as starting from second place, I wanted to be higher up than fifth and feel I wasn’t able to reward everyone at Team VERTU for their efforts in giving me such a fantastic car.
“I know it’s just down to a bit of rustiness on my part having been out of a car for so long, but with some good track time now under my belt, I’m ready to come out fighting in the second half of the season.”
Justina Williams, Team VERTU Team Owner, said: “It’s been another great weekend for the team. It means we are in a strong position in the standings at the half-way stage, but a busy summer period lies ahead to make sure we can maintain our form when we go back racing again at Croft.”