Dick Bennetts slams driving standards after bruising Silverstone

West Surrey Racing boss Dick Bennetts has spoken out against the driving standards on show at Silverstone, after a bruising day which saw all three of his team’s cars pick up significant damage.

Rob Collard’s weekend came to a premature end with a huge accident in the first race which destroyed the rear of his BMW 125i, an incident which also left stable-mate Andrew Jordan with race-ending damage.

Jordan retired with a puncture caused by further contact in race two, while title contender Colin Turkington finished the final race with heavy front-end damage and no points, after being caught up in the aftermath of the clash between Josh Cook and Jason Plato.

Bennetts said: “The big positive from this weekend is that we’ve maintained our lead in both the teams’ and manufacturers’ championships and seen Colin close in a little on the top spot in the drivers’ title race. The negative has been the poor driving standards throughout the field that have cost Colin the chance to regain the lead of the championship and put Rob in hospital. Thankfully Rob’s OK, but the team now face a real race against time to get his car ready for Brands Hatch in a fortnight.

“AJ drove very well in Race 3 to overtake so many cars and finish eighth. The pace he showed in that race was an indication of the speed he had in race trim from the BMW today.

“It’s a big shame that he’s been denied the chance of a few more strong results through factors outside his control. The driving standards have been poor today and he’s been a victim of that.”

Turkington leaves Silverstone ten points behind leader Ashley Sutton with three races at Brands Hatch to go, while Collard’s early retirement and subsequent no-scores have put him out of contention for the title.