Simon Belcher calls for Church corner gravel trap

Simon Belcher has called for Thruxton circuit bosses to review the safety of Church corner, after surviving an enormous crash and barrel roll at the fearsome right-hander in yesterday’s final race.

The Speedworks Motorsport man believes a gravel trap would avoid the repeat of this weekend’s problems, where he was one of three cars to go off at unabated speed at the fastest turn in the country.

Belcher says his Toyota Avensis is a write-off, and his small team, running under the Handy Motorsport banner, may not have the budget to finish the season.

Suspension failure led to the 120mph impact for Belcher, who gave his thoughts to TouringCarTimes afterwards.

He said: “I’m fine, I’m aching a little bit which is to be expected, but the worst thing is we have a wrecked car which a team in their first year of touring car racing can ill afford.

“I don’t know if we have got the budget to get it back out again, because it is a total write-off. We were extremely tight on budget already.

“What’s frustrating is that it’s a car failure that’s caused the accident, rather than a driver mistake or someone hitting us. Something’s failed on the front right and it’s just turned left, gone straight into the barrier and hit a tree.

“I think we need to have a little bit more thought at Thruxton about safety at Church, because there’s no gravel trap there, nothing to scrub off any speed, and it’s the fastest corner in the UK.

“I think that’s something the circuit needs to look at.

“The roof’s gone, both rear quarters are gone, the back of the car’s gone, and the front of the car’s gone. Had there been a gravel trap and a tyre wall there, we would be looking at extensive front-end damage, but only the front end.

“We need to see where we are and see if it’s possible to get out at Oulton Park, but it’s far too early to say.”