For the last 10 years I have competed in various rear wheel drive categories from Formula Ford, Porsche Carrera Cup to International Sportcars and here was embarking on my front wheel drive return in the British Touring Car Championship.

I lay in bed on Friday evening and wondered what the hell have I letmyself in for!!!

There had been a really positive response to the announcement that I would be joining Team Shredded Wheat racing with DUO for the remainder of the season, with some great support from the racing scene as well as the local and national media. It was really nice to receive such backing –  but it came with added pressure, as if it wasn’t already a challenge. The media liked the idea that I would be going head to head with Gordon Shedden, triple BTCC champion, fellow Scot and also my brother in-law. We played up to this banter but we always knew that we were racing for different reasons come race day!

Practice went well in the wet as I slotted into 2nd place overall for a period in FP1 but then struggled to find a feeling in the car during the dry FP2. A rain shower arrived just in time for qualifying which I welcomed, but it dried in the final minutes. Those who took the risk and went on to slicks earliest laid down the quickest laps. I hesitated and went onto slicks too late and dropped down the order to P25 out of 31 cars.

It was all part of the learning experience but it was hard to see my name so far down the order. My head was turning on Saturday evening as I’d given myself a lot of work to do on Sunday. It was about managing my expectations with the tricky circumstances but the racer in me always wants to do better.

The crowd that came out to Knockhill on Sunday was massive and it was great to be in amongst that level of atmosphere again. Here I was on the start line of my first ever BTCC race and it was in front of my home crowd. The adrenaline was on a new scale!

Race 1 was an eye opener. After making up 4 places in the initial laps I was soon shuffled back down the order as I was hit from the rear, the side the front and then the rear again. I crossed the line in P25 a bit dismayed. I knew the BTCC was going to be cut throat but the bangs and wallops I received just felt a bit clumsy!

Race 2 and this was my “time to shine” (my engineer’s favourite phrase!). I started from P25 again but this time my 45kg of newcomers ballast was taken off and I had allocated my soft tyres to this race. We shot off the start and into turn 1 to be faced by a multi car pile-up at turn 2. I took avoiding action into the gravel but collected the spinning car of Michael Epps, breaking my front left toe link. The race was red flagged and luckily I got the car back to the grid where the team got to work immediately. In the space of what felt like a few minutes they replaced the broken part and I was as good as new. What an effort!

The restart was much cleaner and we all made it through the first lap. I settled in and then started picking my way through the field. It was time to give back what I received in race 1!  With just a few laps to go I was in P11 and the team were urging me to make up one more place so we would be in with a shout of the reverse grid. Price and Neal made my life easier by colliding in front me, sending Matt into the gravel and promoting me to 10th overall.

The team were absolutely buzzing when I got out of the car. They then went blooming crazy when we found out that I would be on pole position for race 3 after my number was picked out of the hat. You just couldn’t write it! I was later demoted to 2nd on the grid when Price was excluded from the race 2 results after his incident with Matt Neal.

Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. Best way to learn I guess!

Sitting on the front row my goal was to focus ahead but the championship contenders were ready to pounce. I dropped to third off the line but survived the first couple of laps in good shape. Then the Audi in 2nd place fell off the road at the Chicane and re-joined the circuit quite abruptly giving me nowhere to go. I hit the Audi up the rear which opened the door for Newsham to sneak by. This was the beginning of the end with Shedden’s Honda and a queue of Subarus and BMWs on my tail. I did my best to hold them off, but I was now on the back foot. It was great going door to door with Gordon and I knew that the crowd would appreciate some close action from the two of us. I put up the best fight I could but dropped down to P10. In the closing laps I still had some fight in me yet and I managed to repass Newsham to claim 9th.

I was certainly content with the result having claimed my second top 10. What topped off the weekend for me and team was finding out that I had won the Jack Sears Trophy for scoring more points than any other Rookie during the weekend. It was pretty special as I was awarded the trophy on the podium alongside Ingram, Shedden and Turkington. The Scottish crowd were amazing and I hung around after the podium to speak with the fans. They are so passionate about Touring Car racing.

I certainly got a real taste of what the BTCC is all about. We hit rain on Saturday, the drivers hit me in Race 1, I got the elbows out in Race 2 and then the big guns showed me what it takes to be at the front in Race 3. It’s a start but there’s loads more to learn…

It’s been an incredible experience and I look forward to building on my debut at Rounds 22, 23 and 24 at Rockingham next weekend.