Robert Collard (born October 1, 1968) is an auto racing driver from Hampshire, best known for racing in the British Touring Car Championship and claiming the Independent's Cup title in 2003. For many years he raced hot rods, only switching to circuit racing in his late 20s. He raced Formula Ford for 3 years, winning the 1998 Formula Ford Festival. However, as most drives in Formula 3 and higher went to younger drivers, he turned his attention to saloon based racing, coming 3rd in the Vauxhall SRi V6 championship. October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, autosport or motorsport) is a sport involving racing automobiles. ... Hampshire (abbr. ... T-Bucket hot rod Hot rods are older, often historical, cars. ... Vauxhall Motors is a UK car company. ...

In 2000 the BTCC launched a Production class featuring lower-powered but cheaper cars, to fill its relatively thin grid. Rob took up this opportunity, and finished 4th overall in his class. He only raced a partial season in 2001, concentrating on preparing a Renault Clio for a full assault in 2002 with his own Collard Racing team. The British Touring Car Championship is a series of races for saloon cars which is held each year in the United Kingdom. ... Renault S.A. is a French vehicle manufacturer producing cars, vans, buses, tractors and trucks. ...

The season was a disaster however. Engine reliability and lasting performance was low, and a victory and a 2nd in the opening meeting proved to be a false dawn, as the small team struggled to get working machinery to the races,^[1] and he was outside the championship top 10.^[2] He also contested 6 ETCC races in a Nissan Primera for RJN Motorsport that year. The European Touring Car Championship was an international motor racing competition organized by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second on between 2000 and 2004. ... The Nissan Primera is a mid-sized range of automobiles manufactured in the United Kingdom and Japan. ...

Undeterred, Rob redoubled his efforts for 2003, moving up to the main Touring Class with a Vauxhall Astra.^[3] He beat several better-funded teams and drivers to win the Independent's Cup, and finished 10th overall ahead of several 'works' drivers.^[4] For 2004 there were less works teams, with MG pulling out and Honda scaling down to only one car. As a result more competitive cars had independent status. Collard Racing had no realistic hope of matching Anthony Reid's independent MG or Matt Neal's Honda, and finished 6th in the Indy cup and 12th overall. The 2003 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 46th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. ... The Astra is a General Motors (GM) small family car, badged as an Opel in continental Europe, a Vauxhall in the United Kingdom, a Holden in Australasia, and a Chevrolet in Latin America. ... The 2004 Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 47th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. ... Mg or mg or MG may stand for: machine gun Madagascar, ISO country code Malagasy language, in ISO 639 magnesium (Mg) MG (car), the car company milligram (mg) megagram (Mg) or Tonne MG stands for Minas Gerais, one of the states from Brazil Metal Gear or Metal Gear Solid This... For other uses, see Honda (disambiguation). ... Anthony Reid is a British auto racing driver, born on 17/05/57 in Glasgow, Scotland. ... Mg or mg or MG may stand for: machine gun Madagascar, ISO country code Malagasy language, in ISO 639 magnesium (Mg) MG (car), the car company milligram (mg) megagram (Mg) or Tonne MG stands for Minas Gerais, one of the states from Brazil Metal Gear or Metal Gear Solid This... Matt Neal is a British motor racing driver, best known for his success in the British Touring Car Championship, although he has also won an ETCC race. ... For other uses, see Honda (disambiguation). ...

in 2005 Rob replaced Reid in West Surrey Racing's MG, concentrating purely on racing rather than team ownership. This was his most competitive season to date, with 2 outright wins and 7th place overall. For 2006 he is joined in the team by Colin Turkington under WSR's new guise "Team RAC". The 2005 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 48th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. ... History WSR Headquarters in Sunbury-on-Thames, England Founded in 1981, West Surrey Racing is run by New Zealander Dick Bennetts. ... Colin Turkington is an auto racing driver from Newry in Northern Ireland, born on 21st March 1982. ...

References

1. ^ "Collard Racing retires from 2002 BTCC"
2. ^ http://www.btcc-racing.com/results/2002/2002prod.asp
3. ^ "Collard acquires Astra for 2003 BTCC"
4. ^ http://www.btcc-racing.com/results/2003/2003drivers.asp

External links

• Official Website
• Team RAC - Rob's team for 2006
• BTCC-Racing profile