Robb Holland secured Handy Motorsport’s second outright points finish of the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season at a gloriously sunny Snetterton in Norfolk on Sunday, 9th August, with a best result of 14th position overall in the second of the weekend’s three races.

With the round 17 performance also delivering an Independents Trophy top 10 for the BTCC returnee, on his maiden appearance with the Swindon-based squad, the finish also equalled the American’s previous best in the UK’s biggest motor racing category.

Despite having been away from the championship for over 10 months, Holland started raceday well with a strong drive to 19th place in the opening contest, round 16, and after starring in race two the 47-year-old aimed for even more in the final outing.

Sadly, a failed head gasket led to disappointing retirement to the pits on lap seven but, aside from the non-finish in round 18, the whole event was an extremely positive one for Wiltshire’s Handy Motorsport.

“It’s been a great first weekend working with Robb”, said team principal Simon Belcher, “He equalled his best ever result in race two, even though he’s been away from the BTCC for more than half a season, and did that in a more competitive field than last year –the top nine cars in qualifying all beat last season’s pole time so it shows how everything moves forward and improves in the BTCC.

“He got quicker and quicker with every session and from being inside the top 20 in the first race, which was a good start, getting some good points in race two was great for the team.  Race three was a shame but, overall, we’re very pleased and really looking forward to Knockhill now.”

Holland made a good start to his first race weekend behind the wheel of the Webb Garden Power Equipment and KÄRCHER-backed Toyota Avensis, progressing steadily in free practice on Saturday, 8th August, before setting the 24th fastest time in qualifying – within 0.8 seconds of the top 20.

Opting to use the ‘Soft’ compound Dunlop tyre for the opening race on Sunday morning, Holland actually began round 16 from an effective 22nd on the grid when two rivals pitted at the end of the green flag formation lap. Although slipping behind Barry Horne at the start, the American hit back mid-lap and as a result of a spin for Rob Collard he ended the opening tour inside the top 20.

In a huge battle early on with three other cars, Holland moved up into 19th ahead of the Infiniti of Derek Palmer on lap three and set his sights on the Ford Focus of Mike Bushell. Initially running within half a second of Bushell, the Handy racer soon had to turn attention to the threat from Horne.

Running just 0.5 seconds clear of his rival at mid-distance, Holland managed to edge a second clear during the second half of the contest to maintain his placing to the chequered flag. His best lap time of 1m59.095 seconds, meanwhile, netted the BTCC returnee 21st on the grid for round 17.

At the start of race two Holland made a good getaway to edge past Josh Cook but, after getting boxed-in behind the pack of cars on the right-hand side of the track, the Handy driver had limited options – although he did still manage to climb through into the top 20.

With a couple of rivals tangling, and the Honda of Gordon Shedden spinning off the circuit, Holland moved up into 17th position on the opening lap and then gained another place on the second tour before breaking into the top 15 on lap three.

An unfortunate sideways moment at Coram on the fifth tour did cost the Oakley Motorsports backed driver crucial time, but he recovered the car without drama and, although losing position to Palmer’s Infiniti, he quickly hit-back to retake 15th spot.

Pulling away from Palmer at the midway point, Holland then gained another place into 14th position and although falling back into the clutches of the Infiniti – with the hot weather having a big impact on the engine cooling – he held the place to the flag on lap 12 to equal his best ever in the BTCC.

“The first lap was crazy, it was literally three-wide where you’d normally have room for two cars so it was just a case of keeping your nose clean and watching the guys behind, as well as front, to make sure nobody tried a lunge”, explained Holland after race two, “That first couple of laps, mentally, you’re on the limit so I was pretty happy to come through that clean.

“I’ve never not scored points at Snett, so it’s a good result. I think a P12 could have been on order but we had the engine over-heating problem, plus I got a bit hot at Coram one lap too when I was on the radio to the engineer. To come through with P14, though, I think we’ve got to be happy with that result from the first weekend.”

Next on the BTCC calendar is a visit north of the border to Knockhill Circuit in Scotland just two weeks from now, over the weekend 22nd/23rd August.

2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC HiQ Teams Championship (after Rd18):

14th Handy Motorsport, 5pts

2015 Dunlop MSA BTCC Independents Team Trophy (after Rd18):

8th Handy Motorsport, 91pts