A treble podium finish at the British Touring Car Championship season-opener thrust WSR and BMW into an early lead in the race for an unprecedented 10th Manufacturers’ title.
Two third-place finishes for Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport’s Jake Hill and a final-race charge to second spot by Team BMW’s Colin Turkington made for a strong start on a weather-affected day at Donington Park by the BMW 330e M Sport race cars.
Biblical levels of rain overnight and into the morning led to racing getting underway nearly two hours later than planned, but did mean that the season-opener was held in damp, rather than fully-wet weather.
Battling the track conditions, Jake ran in the podium positions for most of the race before coming home third.
The Kent racer sprinted into the lead of a dry Race Two, only for excessive rear tyre wear to lead to him being caught and passed by two rivals late on as he again finished third.
He was fifth in the finale, part of a five-way late-race battle for the win; minor set-up changes having prevented a recurrence of his tyre issue.
Three places further up the order was Team BMW’s four-time champion Colin Turkington, who had earlier finished fourth and fifth.
Keeping his composure during a frantic multi-car battle for the top spots, he made three spots in two corners at mid-distance and kept the pressure on as he fought to the flag in second place.
He’s fourth in the Drivers’ points, one spot behind Jake and 17 ahead of Team BMW team-mate Adam Morgan.
Adam had led the opening stages of Race Three, but locked a front wheel after clipping a kerb on entry to McLean’s at one-third distance and was demoted several spots.
The Lancashire racer finished seventh. He was eighth in Race One, driving superbly in the wet conditions to climb from 16th on the grid, but was later demoted to 14th owing to a time penalty for a false start. That led to a similar Race-Two charge to seventh.
Adam Morgan, Team BMW, said: It’s been a pretty turbulent day up and down the grid with a lot of close battles. Race One was good and I went from 16th to eighth, but then I got a 10-second penalty for a jump-start so had to do it all again in Race Two, but the pace has been pretty strong and I could make the kind of passing moves I wasn’t able to last year with the BMW, which is really encouraging. I’m frustrated with myself for Race Three. I saved five laps of hybrid and had it under control, but then I locked-up into McLeans, which hurt the front left and I was a sitting duck.”
Our new Eurocentral Truck site is really starting to take shape, and we’re delighted with how the development is progressing.
Dealer Principal Andy Heys recently visited the site to take a look at the latest progress and give us a tour of what will soon become our state-of-the-art Truck facility, designed to support customers across Scotland and beyond.
With construction moving forward at pace, it’s fantastic to see our vision becoming a reality. We can’t wait to welcome customers and colleagues through the doors when the site opens later this year.
Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to completion! 👀🚛
It was a pleasure to welcome Richard Skidmore to our new Eurocentral dealership yesterday, on what was an incredibly significant day as he was announced as the new Managing Director of Daimler Truck UK.
Firstly, congratulations to Richard on his well-deserved appointment. With his extensive industry knowledge, strong leadership and deep understanding of both our network and our customers, there’s no doubt he is exceptionally well placed to lead Daimler Truck UK into its next chapter. Building on the strong growth and success achieved by Daimler Truck in recent years, we are confident Richard will continue to drive the business forward. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our partnership under his leadership.
Richard`s visit also provided the perfect opportunity to showcase the fantastic progress being made on our new £8 million, state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Daimler Buses dealership at Eurocentral.
The project is progressing exactly as planned, with the facility firmly on track for completion in October, ahead of welcoming our first customers in the first week of November. Each week brings us closer to opening what will be one of the UK’s most advanced commercial vehicle dealerships, delivering an exceptional experience for customers across Scotland and providing a first-class environment for our colleagues and manufacturer partners.
Thank you to Richard for taking the time to visit us during such an exciting week. We look forward to welcoming you back when the doors officially open.
Are you passionate about delivering exceptional customer service and looking for your next career move?
We`re looking for a Service Advisor to join our award-winning team at Ciceley Commercials Darwen.
As the first point of contact for our customers, you`ll play a key role in ensuring vehicles are maintained and returned to the road as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you`re organised, customer-focused and thrive in a fast-paced environment, we`d love to hear from you. View the full job description and apply on our website.
What a fantastic day at our Ciceley golf day at @boltonoldlinksgolf ⛳
The weather may have tested us with a wet start, but once the skies cleared it turned into a brilliant day of golf, great company, and friendly competition.
We`re also delighted to have raised £535 for @eastlancshospice – a cause that means so much to our team and local community. A huge thank you to everyone who took part, donated, and helped make the day such a success.
Take a look at some of the highlights from a memorable day on the course! 🎥🏌️♂️💙
To celebrate our recent recognition as Mercedes-Benz Dealer of the Year and Service Team of the Year, colleagues across the group enjoyed a well-earned lunch from @gogetstuffed 🍟
A huge thank you to Team Ciceley for your hard work, dedication and commitment. These awards are yours. 👏
