No sympathy for Smith from Hughes

Jason Hughes says Gavin Smith has only himself to blame for breaking two ribs in a crash at Brands Hatch and says he feels no sympathy for the Vauxhall driver who will attempt to race in pain at Silverstone this weekend.

Hughes’ Kartworld MG and factory Vauxhall driver Smith’s Astra Sport Hatch collided on the Brands Hatch starting grid two weeks ago and both crunched into the pit wall.

Vauxhall has confirmed Irishman Smith broke two ribs in the 50mph impact and will be hoping a course of medical treatment will see him through this weekend’s BTCC Finals meeting.

But said Hughes: “I feel no sympathy for Gavin – nobody wants to see a driver get hurt, but he only has himself to blame because the crash was his fault. He jumped the start and tried chopping across my bows, but miscalculated it and instead put himself into the wall. Nobody I know who saw it can believe what he did.”

Preston driver Hughes is hoping to continue the excellent run of form he’s enjoyed this season since fitting his Kartworld team’s MG with a four-cylinder engine that has also been converted to run on bio-ethanol fuel. After his shunt with Smith at Brands, Hughes was forced to start race two from the back of the grid, but still carved his way through to tenth by the finish.

And Hughes added: “Since Brands, we’ve had the same exhaust system fitted as you’ll find on the Team RAC cars and I’m hoping the engine torque and response will be just about identical. It all adds up, whether it a single flying qualifying lap or over a race distance.

“It would be great to end three years with the MG on a positive note as we’re very

This is what Hughes refers to:

Injured Smith hopes to race

Vauxhall driver Gavin Smith has said he’s hopeful of racing in this weekend’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Finals meeting at Silverstone, despite being in pain with two broken ribs from a crash at Brands Hatch two weeks ago.

Irishman Smith suffered the injury after his Astra Sport Hatch rammed the pit wall at 50mph in a start line collision with Jason Hughes’ Kartworld MG.

But the 29-year-old Dubliner is determined to take part at Silverstone as he seeks his first race win in the BTCC. And on a circuit that requires strong engine performance, Smith and Vauxhall team-mates Fabrizio Giovanardi and Tom Chilton could be potential winners in all three final rounds of the season.

“I’ve been to a physiotherapist and had ultrasound,” said Smith. “I’ll take part in practice on Saturday to see if I can drive the car. I feel a lot better and I believe that in these cases with footballers they can give you an injection that helps so I might look into that. It would be a massive disappointment not to race, but I’ve got to think of my health.”

Amazingly, a patched-up Smith chose to take part in the third of Brands’ three rounds and finished tenth from the back of the grid.