Martyn Bell annoyed with Marsh

Martyn Bell has expressed annoyance with rival Richard Marsh after the pair collided for the second time at Thruxton on Sunday – an incident which Bell feels proved instrumental in him missing out on a points finish.

Allaboutproperty.com driver Bell started race two from 13th on the grid and with three retirements ahead of him reckoned atop ten finish would have been possible. Indeed, his BMW 320i’s lap times before its collision with Marsh’s Alfa Romeo indicated an increase in competitiveness.

Bell, aged 42, said: “I made up some positions again at the start before Richard Marsh tried to make the BMW a compact going into the complex.

“The car was wrecked at the back and it’s quite annoying as it’s the second time it’s happened to me – he did the same last season at Knockhill.”

But Lincolnshire-based Bell remains upbeat going into the four-week break before the BTCC’s next rounds at Croft in North Yorkshire on 3 June.

Bell, from Barrow-upon-Humber, said: “The end result doesn’t reflect our efforts and our best lap in the second race was only 0.2s off Tom Onslow-Cole’s newer-spec BMW 320si. It’s a tribute to the team to be able to do that.

“We know that we have made progress this season with the car and we know that that progress isn’t reflected by the championship standings. We aren’t feeling down, we are just getting our bad luck out of the way in one go…”