Ciceley Motorsport’s Adam Morgan staged a remarkable comeback to salvage two points-scoring finishes following a big impact in Race One, as the KwikFit British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) continued at Donington Park on Sunday.
The Pall-Ex backed driver was amongst many who struggled during treacherous conditions during qualifying on Saturday.
Strong winds and heavy downpours meant the track was constantly evolving and the session became a lottery, as drivers attempted to catch the best of the track conditions in order to set the fastest lap times.
Adam drove well and secured a respectable 14th position to start Race One on Sunday.
After the session, he said; “It was OK, but I was too cautious on my first run and then on my second I ran the same set of tyres so that meant that I was jumped by people on a second, fresher set, but hopefully we can make real progress”
Drier conditions came on Sunday, and Adam lined up 14th on the grid for Race One.
Adam battled within the pack through the first few turns, until a collision between Rob Collard and Andrew Jordan ahead, sent Jordan’s BMW sideways across the track at the Old Hairpin turn.
Adam was penned in by the rest of the pack and had nowhere to go, and he couldn’t avoid heavy contact with the 2013 BTCC champion.
The front of Adams Mercedes-Benz A-Class bore the brunt of the collision, that broke the roll cage and chassis of Jordan’s Three Series.
The damage seemed to be terminal for Morgan, as the whole front end of the car needed either repairing or replacing.
The Ciceley team only had two hours to prepare the car in time for Race Two.
They worked flat out to fix the badly damaged BTCC car and did an amazing job, getting the work finished in just 51 minutes.
“It was an amazing job from the guys,” said Adam.
When I got out of the car, I thought I would be a spectator for the rest of the day, but everyone did a fantastic job.”
The Lancastrian lined up on the grid for Race Two in 28th position in the newly rebuilt car, that had not been properly set-up, as time had been against the team.
From his starting position, Adam climbed to 12th in a race, punctuated by a number of safety cars, which bunched the field up, which aided Adam in his pursuit of a points finish.
Reflecting on the race, Adam commented; “The car wasn’t perfect, but I’m over the moon to get a result like that given the damage earlier.
“That was a points finish and the goal was a top 20 result, so 12th is amazing. If we can get the set up right for Race Three, I reckon we can make more progress from there.”
The third and final race of the day saw Adam’s Mercedes line up in 12th position on the grid.
From here, Morgan battled hard around the East Midlands circuit and fought his way up to eighth place by the time the chequered flag fell, meaning another good collection of points to add to Adam’s tally for the season so far.
The whole team would have been hoping to repeat the success of last year, which saw Adam win his first race of 2018 at Donington Park.
However, as Adam explained, the team is happy to have salvaged a good haul of points from what could have been a disastrous weekend after Race One’s incident.
“When the car was brought back at the end of race one, we all looked at it wondering if that was the end of day,” reflected Adam.
“To get it back out was a major result and so 12th and eighth is outstanding in the circumstances.
“Two points-scoring finishes is a relief – it wasn’t our best day but it could have been so much worse.
“More than anything it shows what this team is capable of and what the lads in the garage can do.”
The remarkable recovery by Adam and the team sees him leave Donington in ninth position in the KwikFit British Touring Car Championship, and fourth in the Independents Championship.
Meanwhile, Mac Tools Racing with Ciceley Motorsport now sit 10th in the Teams’ Championship and fifth in the Independent teams’ contest.
Next Up...
The team will head to Thruxton in Hampshire for the next round of the KwikFit British Touring Car Championship on the weekend of the 18-19th May.
Adam has gone well here in previous visits and will be hoping to climb the championship leader-board with a strong performance there.
You can view all the race-day action live on ITV4 from 11AM.
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