Morgan bags important points in trying Croft thriller

FUCHS sponsored Adam Morgan had a difficult time in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Croft at the weekend, as he continued his fight to regain early-season form.

After a spectacular fire at Oulton park caused by a split fuel line, the Ciceley Motorsport team in Accrington had worked wonders to rebuild Adam’s Mercedes-Benz A-Class along with the sister car of Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat. Entering free practice, the team needed to work on a good set-up for the weekend. However, the weather instantly put the team on the back foot as the opening day of the meeting was blighted by heavy and persistent rain. After both free practice sessions, Adam was frustrated as the hard-working squad was struggling top find an ideal set-up.

“We tried two different set-ups and neither worked, so we need some Marco Magic going into qualifying,” a reference to his senior legendry Italian race engineer Marco Calovolo and his years of experience.

Qualifying, though, was a trying time for everyone as oil on the track left the road like a skating rink. With cars spearing off the road at Barcroft, Adam had a massive spin and thankfully avoided hitting any of the wrecked cars lying trackside. With the mix of oil and water leaving the road unsuitable to resume qualifying, Adam’s WIX Filters backed Mercedes-Benz A-Class would be forced to start race one from 23rd on the grid and leaving The Morganator with a lot of work to do.

However, race one didn’t offer a fairy tale result for the Ribchester Rocket as an engine problem left him on the sidelines after half-distance. “We had a new engine after Oulton Park, and it was down on power in the dry and then overheated. The set-up was good although I got tangled up with Mike Epps and we made contact, so that knackered the tyre and I fell back, but the real problem was that the engine just lost power. It might be a fuel rail.”

Adam started at the back for race two, after yet more hard work by the Ciceley Motorsport crew, but stormed up to 15th place, winning Dunlop’s Forever Forward award for most cars overtaken, 11 drivers falling victim to the ruthless Morgan as he blasted up the order, and just squeezed into the points as well.

“I managed to avoid the chaos at the start and then I followed Matt Neal through the pack, looking after my tyres, but I had a scare when Matt made a mistake and hit one of the huge tyre stacks and knocked it into the road. I only just missed that… The tyres held on so we had good pace and we are well paced for more progress in race three.”

For the final race, the Fuchs Lubricants-backed driver lined up 15th on the grid and kept out of trouble at the opening corner and then knuckling down to making progress after an early safety car period ended. Adam ran the option, harder, tyre in the final race but admitted, “We were missing a bit in the sweet spot on the harder tyre,” but Adam chased Martin Depper’s Ford Focus home to bag 12th place and more points. “I could catch Martin in the corners but those Fords have a lot of boost and I just couldn’t do anything about him in a straight line.”

Said Commercial Director Norman Burgess: “Poor Adam has almost had a mirror image of last year when Oulton Park and Croft were both frustrating for him and the team. There has been no lack of effort nor commitment on our part as Adam is desperate to be a race winner again and our lads have worked tirelessly since Oulton Park to get Adam’s car ready, plus Aiden Moffat’s car and our Renault Clios. We all deserved some good fortune this weekend but we’ll bounce back after the summer break and come out fighting again. On the plus side, race day at Croft attracted lots of MAC tools, WIX Filters and Fuchs Lubricants guests to come and cheer on Adam and he didn’t let them down in races two and three: to gain 11 places on a track that isn’t easy to pass on shows Adam’s racecraft and determination. We'll be back at the front at Snetterton and we are aiming for podiums and wins.”

Adam lies 10th in the championship and fifth in the Independent standings, with the next rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship being at Snetterton, Norfolk, on July 29/30 with full coverage on ITV4.