Crash fails to deter Herefordshire ace Lea Wood in Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Castle Donington (From Hereford Times)

Crash fails to deter Herefordshire ace Lea Wood in Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Castle Donington

5:00pm Wednesday 18th April 2012 in Other By Richard Prime

HEREFORD ace Lea Wood bounced back from a disastrous opener at the second round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Castle Donington.

A first-race shunt left Wood battling even to get back on the track for the day’s second and third races.

But plenty of hard work behind the scenes paid off with two points-scoring finishes.

A shower during qualification left Wood, who was in 10th place in the championship after the first round at Brands Hatch, back in 17th on the grid for the opening race.

Any disappointment that the 27-year-old might have felt seemed to be quickly put behind him, however, with a flying start which saw him pass a couple of rivals before they had hardly had time to draw breath.

Disaster struck on the first bend.

“It was a nightmare,” said Wood. “I was hit from behind and spun round with another car taking out the front.”

Wood completed the first lap before disappearing down the pit lane to begin repairs.

With the radiatior taken out and a bent chassis, for a while it appeared touch-and-go whether the Binz Racing Vauxhall Vectra would make it back out for race two.

And a gap on the grid when the rest of the field assumed their positions didn’t raise hopes too high.

But Wood made his appearance from the pit lane and started from the back of the field before steadily making his way through to finish in a creditable 15th position.

With any doubts about the car’s performance now erased, expectations were higher for the final race of the day and, once again, Wood made an excellent start and had worked his way up to 10th before a safety-car interlude bunched the field back up together.

He temporarily lost ground back down to 13th before a final surge saw him cross the finish line in 11th place.

But that was not the end of the drama as race-winner Mat Jackson was disqualified after exceeding permitted turbo boost limits, moving Wood up a place to 10th.

Wood is now 15th in the championship which heads for Thruxton for the next round on April 29.