Mike Bushell given all clear for Oulton Park return

Mike Bushell is itching to get back to action at Oulton Park following a less than ideal recovery period since his huge accident in qualifying at Thruxton.

The AmD Tuning driver suffered severe ligament damage in the crash with Simon Belcher, but has now been given the all clear from the doctors to return to the circuit at the Cheshire circuit.

“The injury itself is healing very quickly and physically I’m doing fine now,” said Bushell, speaking to BTCC.net. “But to be honest I’ve been in limbo over my heart problem that I suffered in February. I was desperate to be in the BTCC this year so I didn’t want to make a big deal of my heart condition.

“I had an inflammation of the heart muscle, which put me in a cardiac ward for a week during pre-season. I did get better but it actually took a lot longer than I thought to reach full fitness.
Obviously because of the nature of the accident at Thruxton and the doctors not knowing originally if I had broken my leg or if I would need surgery, it meant we had to disclose the information to the hospital.

“Of course this accident alarmed the doctors a little and I’ve been frantically waiting to be given the all clear and my license approved for racing, which thankfully has now happened.”

Helping Bushell get back on track was the overwhelming response from the BTCC fanbase, which saw a crowdfunding effort raise his £10,000 target in less than 24 hours.

“The response has been unbelievable as I really didn’t realise the size of the following that both the series has and I seem to have so early in my BTCC career,” continued Bushell. “I wouldn’t be back on the grid without their support – I just want to thank everyone for their help and I hope to give something back over the coming weeks.”

Despite all the trials and tribulations of Thruxton and beyond, Bushell is remaining upbeat for the rest of the season ahead, beginning with an optimistic look to the next three rounds at Oulton Park.

“Despite it having been a trying few months it hasn’t been all doom and gloom,” said Bushell. “I have already experienced being a BTCC driver, which nobody can take away from me. I have won a Clio championship and now I have been on the BTCC grid so I have been quite philosophical about it all, but I was of course hoping to get the all clear in time for Oulton.

We had a few handling problems at Brands Hatch but we sorted them as the weekend went on and race three was great. We had top ten pace at Donington Park but we unfortunately had a couple of mechanical failures and then of course there was Thruxton! Let’s just hope I can have a good weekend at Oulton Park.”