Andrew Watson displayed a fantastic performance in round five of the British Touring Car Championship as he claimed victory in the Jack Sears Trophy after battling back from a frustrating qualifying at Oulton Park.
The weekend got off to a strong start for the Northern Irishman as he showed his pace around the technical Oulton Park circuit to finish the weekend's two practice sessions inside the top ten in P10 and P5 respectively.
Qualifying would see Andrew once again on the pace as he delivered a fantastic lap time to put himself in P5 and a place in the top-ten shootout. However, Andrew was deemed to have crossed track limits and his lap time was deleted. Having used his best rubber to set the lap time, Andrew couldn't replicate his previous lap and had to settle for a P17 starting position.
On Sunday's race day, Andrew started the first race from P17 and, on the ultra-tight Oulton Park circuit, he was able to progress up the order and into the points-paying positions as he crossed the finishing line in P15.
Starting from P14 for race two, Andrew replicated his race one performance as he moved up the order to end the second race of the weekend in P12 - picking up valuable championship points and putting his number in the lottery for the reverse grid draw. However, Andrew's number was not pulled and he started the final race of the weekend from P12.
Claiming a P15 finish in the final race, Andrew pick up more championship points meaning he scored points in all three races and took victory in the Jack Sears Trophy for the second time this season.
These results mean that Andrew sits in P20 in the overall drivers' standings with 26 points, 5th in the Independents Trophy with 158 points and 3rd in the Jack Sears Trophy with 209 points.
The season now takes its summer break and resumes at Croft Circuit in six week's time (29 - 30 July).
Reflecting on the weekend, Andrew said:
“I’m delighted to win the Jack Sears Trophy here at Oulton Park, it’s great to be back.
“I had a bit of a scrappy qualifying and made the job a little bit more difficult for myself today, but I’m really happy with how I drove through the pack and scored some nice overall points too.
“The Vauxhall Astra was great, and the whole team at CarStore Power Maxed Racing performed well. You can’t take podiums and trophies for granted, so I’m delighted for myself and the team, and we move forward to Croft after the summer break.”