Mikey Doble showcased his bounce-back ability at Donington Park GP this past weekend (22/23 August) to maintain his Independents’ Trophy title charge in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.
Returning to the scene of his historic victory at the start of the season, the LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing driver battled mechanical issues that were out of the team’s control to score a brace of points-scoring finishes around the Leicestershire circuit.
Saturday proved to be a case of what might have been for the former Jack Sears Trophy title winner as an electrical gremlin scuppered his chances of securing a starting spot towards the front of the grid for Sunday’s opening encounter.
Having set the second-fastest time in practice earlier in the day, Doble entered qualifying and the ‘Race To Pole’ as one to watch; however, that soon changed as his Audi A3 Saloon ground to a halt heading up Schwantz Curve early on.
Dropping to last place, the 27-year-old was able to get his front-wheel-drive machine restarted and, thanks to a fortuitous appearance by the safety car, Doble was able to salvage a result as he fought his way back up to 14th place.
Lining up on the seventh row of the grid for race one, Doble opted to run the less preferable hard tyre in race one and, despite having to contend with a number of rivals on the medium tyre, the Surrey racer made progress as he fought his way up to tenth.
Race two unfortunately saw the two-time race winner experience a recurrence of the issue that plagued him on Saturday. Running well inside the top ten and moving forward, Doble lost all power and frustratingly dropped to the rear of the field.
Keen to bounce back from that setback, Doble once again showcased his overtaking prowess in a feisty reverse grid encounter as he utilised the faster medium tyre to scythe his way up the order and take the chequered flag in 11th.
Leaving Donington Park, Doble remains at the top of the Independent Drivers’ Championship holding a 30-point lead over his nearest challenger, Daryl De Leon.
Mikey Doble: “It’s probably been the first weekend this season where I’ve experienced bad luck, so although I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to come away with more, I’m content that we were able to maintain the Independents’ lead.
“On Saturday we had really good pace but the issue that hampered us in the Race To Pole meant that we had very little to show for our efforts. We opted to take the pain of the hard tyre in race one and we managed to fight our way forward which was good.
“Then with the medium tyre on for the rest of the day, I was confident we could push on but sadly the issue on Saturday popped up again and cost us in race two. To round out the day going from the back of the grid was pleasing but ultimately the warmer temperatures hampered us a little bit.
“We’re heading into the business end of the season now and the focus is on making sure we can either maintain or build the points lead we’ve got in the Independents. Looking ahead to Croft, we should go well there so I’m excited to get up to North Yorkshire.”
