Bassett leaves Brands Hatch with Little Reward

The statistics will show two DNF’s for Chris Bassett in Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2014 BARC Cannons Tin Tops Championship at Brands Hatch on  (Sunday 4 May), but the reality is that huge promise of speed was shown before a broken water hose in race one and a high oil pressure problem caused the retirements.
Bassett was mixing it with the more experienced drivers for the third time in as many rounds, putting his Peugeot 205 GTi in places it didn’t belong and racing on par with the proven MG ZR or Terry Searles and Championship hopeful Vic Hope in his Honda Civic Type R.
Chris Bassett Racing Brands Hatch
This in itself demonstrates that progress has was being made within the Peugeot camp, although it remains behind its T3 rivals in terms of outright pace and proven reliability.
Having run to form in qualifying, Chris found himself in 5th place for race one before being demoted to last place and starting from the pitlane having missed the final pit lane call. Chris battled up to 6th place before the water hose split and forced his retirement.
In race two, Chris again started from last place due to his retirement in race one and after successfully moving his way through the field ran tight with the leading pack and held station in the thick of a T3 freight train, which stretched from fourth to 12th.
Again, Chris was forced to retire half way through the race due to a problem of high oil pressure which later turned out to be a faulty oil pump.
On a positive note, Chris lapped within a second of Chris Whiteman’s all-conquering Honda Civic Type R before retirement.Chris Bassett Brands Hatch
“That was a hard weekend, but I am pleased, of course,with the progress being made,” said Chris. “We always knew that 2014 would be a development year, but already we are showing signs of the Peugeot being a reasonably competitive car. If we can sort out the reliability issues, it could be a good first year back racing.”
The Brands Hatch Indy circuit hosts Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2014 BARC Cannons Tin Tops Championship in two weeks (26 May).
For more information on Chris Bassett’s racing activities, please visit the official www.chrisbassett.co.uk website, ‘like’ his Facebook page or follow @Chris_Bassett on Twitter.