Mixed fortunes for Restart Racing at Knockhill

It was a good and bad weekend for Restart Racing on its trip to the Knockhill circuit in Scotland,  Chris was chasing car issues all weekend, including a race-win-stealing suspension failure.

Smiley meanwhile had a weekend to forget after qualifying and finishing Race 1 down in ninth place. Sunday turned into a complete disaster, with two DNFs for the reigning champion due to mechanical issues, all but ending any chance of retaining his title.

In Race 1, Chris was able to grapple with a straight-line performance problem to wrestle the car across the line in ninth where he started, which crucially secured him a front row spot for Race 2 on Sunday morning.

Race 2 could have been the start of a turnaround, as Chris launched into the lead from second on the grid, and had built a two-second gap to the car behind before the front-left suspension failed on his Civic, and he had to return to the pit lane after just two laps.

Chris started eighth for Race 3, but with his car was again underperforming, and with the problem escalating Chris retired the car with four laps to go.

The team will be working hard with car builders JAS Motorsport to find solutions to the problems with Chris’ car for the remaining three rounds of the championship at Silverstone, Donington Park, and Brands Hatch.

Chris Smiley, #1 Restart Racing Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR

“It’s been a very challenging weekend, with a lost opportunity to score our first win of the year in the second race.

“We’ve been chasing problems with the car all weekend, and we’re working hard with JAS Motorsport to resolve them. We had no straight line speed in the first race, and were just able to finish where we started in P9.

“With the reversed grid Race 2, we had a real chance though. I’d managed to build a two-second lead, and the guy behind us was holding the field up so I could have got away and maybe scored the win, but then the suspension failed with no warning on the second lap.

“In Race 3, we again had no speed, and were fighting for places we shouldn’t have been fighting for. It’s very disheartening, but we’ll work hard on it and hopefully will be back where we should be for the last rounds in the season.

“At this point, there’s no question it’s turned into a development year for the new car rather than a championship-contending season – the title is no longer really anything I’m thinking about.”

Photo Credit – Phil Laughton, Post Credit – Restart Racing