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A View From The Driver's Seat: My maiden touring car win and the perfect end to a difficult year

By Frank Wrathall / MJP Media | 26 October 2012

Following an emotional maiden British Touring Car Championship race win at Brands Hatch, Dynojet's Frank Wrathall looks back at the final meeting of the 2012 BTCC season.

After what was without doubt a difficult season for me and the Dynojet Toyota team, Brands Hatch race 3 will go down as the most memorable race of my life: My first outright British Touring Car Championship race win.

The day started with difficult weather conditions forecast and it was cold, wet and windy. Qualifying had been a challenging time as we hadn't tested on the long Brands Hatch GP circuit. I wasn't at all happy with only 14th in qualifying and some small technical issues that had occurred throughout the free practice and qualifying sessions. The car however was still in one piece despite a few smoky moments from under the bonnet and race day could only get better!

Race 1 was a disaster as we failed to finish and the less said about that the better, thank you. Race 2 was a different story though as the team's hard work shone through and I was able to find a bit of form and bring the mighty Toyota Avensis home in 6th. That was a good result given what had gone before, but the monsoon that had started earlier meant it was getting dark by about 4:00pm and we were still an hour away from race 3.

Shocking conditions would be the understatement of the decade as we headed out for the last race of the season. It was almost pitch black, there was a force 10 gale blowing and it was absolutely lashing down. God knows how Mike managed to stay out in those conditions taking photographs, but we are glad he did as you can see!

I got a fantastic start to go into Paddock Hill bend with the leaders early on and on lap 4 I managed to sneak into the lead with the advantage of no spray from the other cars. This is it I thought, something is bound to go wrong, but for once luck was on our side. The fantastic work the whole team has done all year really paid off and I was able to keep the determined works Hondas at bay.

At the chequered flag I couldn't believe it. I was crying, Mum, Dad and my girlfriend were crying, in fact I think the whole team was crying. It was so emotional and the adrenalin was really flowing. It was dark and wet and the flashguns were firing everywhere. The TV cameras were trying to get to me but all I wanted to do was get to my team. What a day, what an end to the season and finally "Frank Wrathall: BTCC race winner". What can I say but a huge 'thank you' to everyone involved and most importantly to you, my fans! See you all next year.

Lots of love

Frank #11

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