Motorsport has its ups and downs but Rounds 9 and 10 of the Formula BMW UK Championship at Thruxton on 3^rd/4^th June left Ross Curnow and the Nexa team scratching their heads and wondering why they couldn’t get the car to perform on the fast sweeps of the Hampshire circuit. “This is a weekend I’d rather forget,” said Ross afterwards. “Unlike Brands, we’ve had good weather throughout and we just don’t understand why we can’t stay with the front runners.”

Briefly, the story went like this. Official Testing on the Friday saw Ross finishing 4^th and 6th fastest. With new tyres on for Saturday, he had to work hard to qualify 7^th and 5^th so a pattern was beginning to establish itself. He then he had to battle hard to finish 9^th in Race 1 and 7^th in Race 2 on Sunday.

A frustrated Ross said: “This is not where we should be in this field and we’re struggling to find the reasons. This is a power circuit and they’re just driving past me. We have a lot to think about.”

Since the race meeting, the data has been studied and it has been decided that the engine was down on power so it will be changed for the next race meeting.

At the time of writing, over two weeks after the race, the results (and therefore the championship positions) are still provisional. Niall Breen, who won both races, had his engine sealed and the results of the technical investigation are awaited.

 The next two races will be at Croft, North Yorkshire on the weekend of 15^th/16^th July with testing on Friday 14^th.

(Image 3 courtesy of MJP Media Images Ltd)