Martyn Bell says a repeat of his 2006 qualifying performance would be nice as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Oulton Park for the fifth round of the season.
The Team AllAboutProperty.com driver nearly secured a fairytale pole position at the wheel of his BMW 320i when, after putting in a banker lap at the start of the qualifying session, he found himself on top of the time sheets when rain started to fall.
Unluckily for Bell, the works SEATs of Jason Plato and James Thompson were able to move ahead of him right at the death as the circuit dried out, before he then spun out of the race on the second lap - something he won't want to happen this time around.
"It would be nice if I could qualify in the same place I did last season," he said, "although I'd like to get a bit further than the second lap this time!
"I'm not sure what the weather is likely to do this time around, but I hope that it is either dry or wet - not in between. If it is wet then the circuit will be tricky, especially round Druids when you head under the trees, but then again, it will be the same for everybody."
Bell heads to the Cheshire circuit on the back of a difficult weekend at Croft, where an incident in practice was followed by a trip into the North Yorkshire crops in race two after contact from John George and a retirement in race three.
Eager to score his first top ten finish of the season, he said he was looking forward to competing at one of his favourite circuits on the calendar.
"I really like Oulton Park, it is fast and flowing and always provides good racing," he said. "The car has been straightened out and I'm looking forward to getting back behind the wheel. I made a mistake in the opening practice session at Croft last time out and it put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend. Now I just want to head into the weekend feeling calm and build up momentum when we get out on track.
"Having been taken out of the second race at the last three meetings, hopefully the purple patch that we are due will arrive and our luck will change for the better."
