BMR A-Plan Academy Subaru Team BMR Driver Josh Price finished his maiden BTCC campaign 3rd in the Jack Sears Trophy Standings, despite a difficult Brands Hatch GP finale where setup issues compromised his pace in the mixed conditions across the three races.
Josh Price entered the final round of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship season with the aim of ending on a high, after what has been a challenging baptism in the championship in his maiden season.
Price suffered a difficult pair of Free Practise sessions, where on the GP section of the track and Paddock Hill Bend, the car was unpredictable underneath him - with the cause identified as damage caused from his race ending shunt at Silverstone the previous round caused by Matt Simpson.
Qualifying took place in changeable conditions, where the rain was teasingly fall throughout the session - causing a multitude of red flag intervals to disrupt proceedings. Price was running inside the top 16 for the most of the session, before being unable to improve on his final runs - giving him a 23rd place start for the opening race of the weekend.
Race one saw Price and his fellow Subaru Levorg teammates make great starts, however Price was deemed to have jumped the start. Albeit in car footage proved he didn't launch until after the lights went out. He was forced to take a drive through penalty on lap two of the race, putting him way out of position.
Price had chosen the harder tyre for race one, while the rest of the field had a mixture of the soft, hard and some even on wet tyres for the race. Price began to surge back through the field from 31st as he prime tyres got up to temperature. He recovered ground to finish 22nd at the flag after some crafty overtakes in the drying conditions.
Starting from 22nd in race two, Price maintained his position at the start as the track was now fully dry. Price followed his Team BMR teammates Jason Plato and James Cole for the majority of the race - before he began to struggle with the balance of his car on worn tyres. Price benefited from the duelling up ahead, jumping ahead of teammate Plato in the process. Price held onto 23rd position to the chequered flag.
The final race of the 2017 BTCC Season was due to take place, with the rain falling once again - with the title showdown brewing between Prices' teammate Ashley Sutton and Team BMW's Colin Turkington. Price made a strong start up to 20th at the start of the race, with the majoirty of the field on wet tyres.
On lap two, Price was promoted a position - after Turkington's BMW 125i was hit by Matt Jackson's Motorbase Ford Focus, prompting his retirement from the race and meaning Sutton was the 2017 BTCC Driver's Champion for Subaru Team BMR.
Price continued on his pursuit of points, until lap 8 - when visiblily struggling to slow his A-Plan Academy car for the corners, he was forced to retire from the race on safety ground.
It was a sad end to the season for Price, who has been marred by unreliability and bad luck for the majority of the season. Nevertheless he managed to retain 3rd position in the Jack Sears Trophy standings as a consolation for his maiden season efforts in the pinnacle of Touring Car Racing.
Huge congratulations go to the team of Subaru Team BMR for taking the Driver's Championship with Ash Sutton, as well as taking 2nd overall in the manufacturers and Team's Championship in the process.
With the season now finished, attention turns to the 2018 season - where Price aims to build on everything he has learnt over the course of the season in BTCC, along with getting a complete Winter Testing Programme under his belt so he and the team are fully prepared for the 2018 assault.
Stay tuned for more announcements over the winter period online and via Josh Price Racing's social media channels!
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