SIMON Belcher departed the Oulton Park round of the British Touring Car Championship with mixed emotions – just four weeks on from a near season-ending accident at Thruxton.

With question marks hanging over his participation at Oulton, after his Handy Motorsport-run car sustained huge damage during qualifying for the previous event, a herculean effort by all involved ensured Belcher was back on the grid at the weekend and determined to make good progress.

After falling victim to contact in round 10, though, the Swindon racer then encountered troubles with major oversteer in rounds 11 and 12 which resulted in a sudden drop-off in pace.

Ultimately ending the fourth event of the BTCC season with best finishes of 21st place in races two and three, Belcher concluded the meeting mildly exasperated after a rollercoaster journey in recent weeks.

“After all of the incredible hard work done to make sure we were at Oulton this weekend it is a bit disappointing not to come away with better results," said Belcher.

"I do want to say how grateful I am for the amazing job everyone has done.

“It’s been a massive effort to get the car rebuilt in time, it really is a testament to such a fantastic level of team-work."

Belcher will spend the next three weeks analysing what needs to be improved on before they head to north Yorkshire for rounds 13, 14 and 15 at the Croft track near Darlington on the weekend at June 27 and 28.

“I had a good start to race two (at Oulton), much better than race one, and I was on the back of the midfield chasing pack,” he said.

“But halfway through the race it was just like somebody had flicked a switch as the back of the car got really loose on turn-in and then we had the same issue in race three. We need to get to the bottom of that for Croft.”