Josh Price: podiums ‘a great reward’ following challenging debut weekend

BMR Academy driver Josh Price praised the efforts of his team after a last-minute engine change helped him secure an impressive double podium at in the TCR UK weekend at Knockhill.

Price, who only got his first taste of the Honda Civic FK2 TCR car during Friday’s pre-event test session, suffered a major engine failure in practice at the Scottish circuit.

His team had to borrow a spare engine from rivals Pyro Motorsport in order to take part in qualifying as its own spare was back at base in England.

Miraculously, Price set the fifth quickest lap-time in qualifying but was relegated to the back of the grid for the opening race of the weekend after the engine change.

Nevertheless, 19-year-old Price stormed through the field, due in part to several drivers being caught out by the damp conditions, to finish third, having run as high as second.

Price said: “In the first race, we went from starting P4 to P5 and then to last, so to finish third was the best we could have hoped for.

“I think if I had used my head a bit more, I could have kept second, possibly pushed on if I was awake at the safety car but I wasn’t.

“Ollie’s pace was good, it was easy for me to gauge where his pace was.

“It’s a good start for the team and a big relief for the boys who worked really hard on Saturday to get another engine in the car to be here today.”

Race two was even better for Price, who made a strong start from sixth on the reversed-grid to grab third place from Darelle Wilson’s Vauxhall Astra TCR under braking for Clark’s on the first lap.

Price then hit the front when leader Lewis Kent (Hyundai i30 N TCR) ran wide at the Hairpin. He ultimately fell into the clutches of Dan Lloyd’s WestCoast Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR and had to cede the position to the championship leader.

But Price still recorded a best finish of second, staving off Sean Walkinshaw’s similar Honda Civic after a late safety car intervention.

“It was a good race, I got a good start compared to the ones in front of me. We didn’t quite have the pace and I saw Dan coming and he was just so quick.

“I didn’t think I’d have a shot at going for the win, so I used the safety car to try and build a gap off the line to make sure I got the first corner,” Price added.

“All in all, I think it’s a great reward for the team, putting that engine in at the last minute.”

Price is one of several drivers in the field to have experience both BTCC and TCR machinery, and he heaped praise on the latter series after a strong debut weekend.

“It’s good, it’s got everything you want,” Price said.

“You’ve got clean racing, the cars are quite close and you are able to race closely and competitively. So I think it’s a good series and I’m sure I’ll be coming back.”