Six Tenths and a Point in the Rain: Lewis Gilbert's Silverstone Lesson

Silverstone's National Circuit is 1.64 miles of fast corners and no hiding places, and it is the sort of track where six tenths of a second is the difference between the front row and the back of the grid. Lewis Gilbert found out exactly how unforgiving that can be. After the high of Croft, where he took the Jack Sears Trophy and the Goodyear Wingfoot Award in the same afternoon, this was the weekend that reminded everyone a rookie season is a series of hard lessons with the occasional reward attached, not the other way around.

Silverstone hosted Rounds 25, 26 and 27 on 26 and 27 September, Gilbert's fifth BTCC weekend in the number 29 WSR BMW 330i M Sport.

Six tenths from the front, twenty places back

Look at the qualifying sheet and the story tells itself. Gilbert's best lap of 57.189 was 0.639 seconds off Mikey Doble's pole, which at most circuits would put you mid pack and in the points. At Silverstone it put him 20th of 23. That is not a criticism, it is the reality of a one minute lap where the whole field is covered by barely a second and the established names have years of data on exactly where to brake for Brooklands. His team mates showed what the BMW could do, Daryl De Leon qualifying second and Charles Rainford fourth, so the car was not the issue. The issue was that Gilbert is still building the reference points that Rainford and De Leon already have in the bank.

The Saturday qualifying race brought 18th and Sunday's first two races brought 20th and 20th, the second of those in the dry Race 2 where Sutton won from 12th to seal his fifth title and Rainford took a podium in the sister BMW. Three races, three finishes, no incidents, no penalties, and no points. If you are going to have a weekend like that it is better to have it clean than to have it in the gravel.

Rain, and a point

Then the weather turned properly for the finale and Gilbert went the other way. Starting 16th on the reversed grid, he came through the spray to 15th and the single point that goes with it, ahead of both Doble and Daniel Lloyd and only three seconds off Rainford, who started inside the top ten. One point does not sound like much, but it was his first of the weekend and it was earned in conditions where plenty of experienced drivers went backwards. Wet weather rewards feel over familiarity, and that is the one area where a rookie is not automatically at a disadvantage.

So where does that leave him? One weekend to go, at Brands Hatch on the Grand Prix circuit, which is longer, faster, and far more technical than the National layout and gives a driver somewhere to make a difference. Gilbert has shown at Croft what he can do when the circuit gives him room. Silverstone did not, and he took it on the chin. That is probably the most useful thing you can say about anyone in their first six races of touring car racing.

Follow Lewis at lewisgilbertracing.com and the team at wsr-racing.com.

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