From the Barrel Roll to the Big Award: Lewis Gilbert Stars at Croft

Two weekends ago Lewis Gilbert was climbing out of an upside-down BMW at Donington, his car wrecked and his weekend over before it had started. At Croft he collected the Jack Sears Trophy as the standout rookie and was handed the Goodyear Wingfoot Award as the drive of the meeting. If you want a single story that captures why this young man is worth watching, it is that one. Motorsport tests your speed, but it tests your character far harder, and the way Gilbert answered the question Donington asked of him tells you everything you need to know about the sort of racer we have on our hands.

Croft hosted Rounds 22, 23 and 24 on the fast, flowing North Yorkshire circuit, Gilbert's fourth BTCC weekend and comfortably his best.

The comeback

There was no easing back in after the accident, no tentative feeling around to rebuild confidence. Gilbert simply got back in the rebuilt West Surrey Racing BMW and drove, and drove well, banking three finishes across the weekend and, crucially, coming out on top of the Jack Sears Trophy battle every time it mattered. The Jack Sears Trophy is the championship's award for its rookie drivers, and at Croft nobody in that category could live with him. That is the mark of a driver who has not just recovered his confidence but grown from the setback.

The recognition did not stop there. The Goodyear Wingfoot Award, handed to the driver judged to have produced the standout performance of the weekend, went to Gilbert, a remarkable accolade for a rookie and an extraordinary one for a rookie coming off an accident like Donington. Awards like that are voted on by people who know exactly what they are looking at, and they do not hand them out lightly.

What it means

Results in isolation only tell you so much. A rookie learning the ropes at the back of a ferociously competitive grid is always going to be scrapping outside the top ten in outright terms, and that is fine, that is the job at this stage. What matters is the trajectory, and the trajectory here is pointing sharply upwards. Two weekends on from the biggest setback of his young career, Gilbert answered with the best weekend of it. That is the sort of resilience that turns promising rookies into proper professionals, and it is exactly what West Surrey Racing and everyone around him will have wanted to see.

The team behind him

West Surrey Racing rebuilt the car, put it back underneath him and gave him the platform to respond, which is precisely what the most successful team in BTCC history exists to do. Dick Bennetts has spent a career spotting and shaping young talent, and the way this weekend unfolded suggests he has spotted another one.

SuperHub behind the scenes

SuperHub negotiated and placed Lewis's drive with WSR and handles his marketing, content and PR through his debut BTCC campaign, and weekends like this are the reward for the ones like Donington. Two weeks ago the job was getting the calm, clear message out that the driver was safe and the story was not over. This weekend the job is a great deal more enjoyable, telling the world that the young man who walked away from that accident came back and won an award for it. That is a story worth shouting about, and we will.

Follow Lewis's debut BTCC campaign at lewisgilbertracing.com.

SuperHub places drivers, secures funding and delivers content, PR and sponsor activation across the motorsport paddock, with more than £30 million in motorsport funding and sponsorship raised to date. To talk about a drive, a budget or a campaign, book a call or drop us a line.

Race results sourced from the official BTCC timing partner, TSL Timing, and the official BTCC website.