Rob Collard sore but unscathed after Silverstone shunt ends title hopes

Rob Collard was left feeling “sore but okay” after the accident at Silverstone that saw him officially ruled out of contention for the 2017 BTCC title.

The Team BMW driver was one of the innocent parties caught up in the incident triggered by contact between Aron Taylor-Smith and Chris Smiley exiting Copse, with Taylor-Smith’s MG hitting Collard’s BMW and breaking the steering.

It meant Collard went off onto the grass on the run to Becketts where he was then collected by the Team HARD Volkswagen of Will Burns.

Both drivers would be taken to hospital afterwards before being released, with Collard’s West Surrey Racing team now facing a race against time to prepare a car in time for the season finale at Brands Hatch.

“It’s hugely disappointing to end a weekend in this way, and I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened if the driving standards in the middle of the field had been better,” he said. “I ended up off the track because of two cars leaning on each other too heavily and I’ve had a big accident through no fault of my own that leaves the team with a huge job to ready a car for me for Brands Hatch.

“Fortunately I’m sore, but otherwise OK. I’d like to thank Dr Trafford and the Silverstone medical team as well as the staff at the John Radcliffe Hospital for looking after me and to wish Will Burns a speedy recovery from his injuries sustained in our incident.”