It was a tough day at the office for Daryl DeLeon when the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) visited Silverstone for the penultimate round of the season. Contact in the first 2 races compromised his results, but the Filipino-British driver managed to salvage a point-scoring finish in Race 3 despite terrible weather conditions.
Testing a new 100% sustainable fuel, the #18 Duckhams Racing with Bartercard Cupra León was quick out of the bag in Free Practice. Daryl ended the sessions 16th and 13th fastest around the 2.639 km National Circuit and looked good for the races on Sunday. He did, however, admit that Un-Limited Motorsport could have found more improvements with a bit some extra track time.
With confidence in the car, he set off in Qualifying to secure P13 on the grid, missing the cut into Q2 by less than 2 tenths of a second.
A quick getaway at the start of Race 1 saw the Filipino-British driver make up several places in the opening laps. Unfortunately, whilst making a making pass, he inadvertently made contact with another driver and caused a puncture. This forced him into the pit for a tire change and rejoined in dead last. As he was already a lap behind the leaders, there was very little he could do to catch up and settled for 18th across the line.
His luck sadly failed to improve in Race 2. Daryl’s #18 Cupra León got involved in the first-lap chaos and was spun around. Although he managed to rejoin unscathed, he struggled for pace for all of the remaining 22 laps and was unable to put on an attack. It forced him to settle for 19th place ’til the chequered flag dropped.
The weather went from bad to worse in Race 3, which on hindsight turned out to be an opportunity for Daryl. Quick setup changes got him back on pace, allowing him to make a charge from P19 on the grid to P11 mid-way through. It then became a sprint to the finish after a lengthy Safety Car period where Daryl came under pressure. He dropped 2 places down in the tussle, securing a hard-earned 13th place and points in the bag.
Daryl is set to complete his first full season in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in a week’s time, at Brands Hatch for the finale on October 5/6.
Daryl DeLeon: “Overall, Silverstone was just a tricky weekend. We couldn’t get the car in the good window. But again, a lot of effort from the team and happy to finish with points. We’ve got one more round to go at Brands Hatch so we’re going to push as hard as we can and hopefully we can bring back some silverware to end the 2024 season on a high note.”