Rob Collard
| Rob Collard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nationality | British |
| Born |
1 October 1968 Frimley, England, UK |
| British Touring Car Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2000 |
| Current team | Team BMW |
| Car no. | 5 |
| Former teams |
Motorbase Performance GR Asia Collard Racing Bintcliffe Sport |
| Starts | 424 |
| Wins | 14 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 16 |
| Best finish | 5th in 2012, 2016 |
| Previous series | |
| 2007 2002 1999 |
Porsche Carrera Cup GB ETCC British Formula Ford |
Robert Collard (born 1 October 1968) is a British auto racing driver from Hampshire, best known for racing in the British Touring Car Championship, winning two races in a West Surrey Racing MG, and claiming the Independent's Cup title in 2003. In 2008 he returned to running the series full-time, driving for the Motorbase Performance team, where he remained for 2009, before returning to West Surrey Racing. Collard also owns his own demolition firm, R Collard Ltd. Collard is currently 4th in the 2016 British Touring Car Championship, 17 points behind teammate Sam Tordoff with one round/three races to go.
For many years he raced hot rods, only switching to circuit racing in his late 20s. He raced Formula Ford for 3 years. However, as most drives in Formula 3 and higher went to younger drivers, he turned his attention to saloon based racing, coming 3rd in the Vauxhall SRi V6 championship.
In 2000 the British Touring Car Championship launched Class B, featuring lower-powered but cheaper cars, to fill its relatively thin grid. Rob took up this opportunity, and finished 4th overall in his class. He only raced a partial season in the renamed Production Class in 2001, concentrating on preparing a Renault Clio for a full assault on the Production Class in 2002 with his own Collard Racing team.
The season was a disaster however. Engine reliability and lasting performance was low, and a victory and a 2nd in the opening meeting proved to be a false dawn, as the small team struggled to get working machinery to the races, and he was outside the championship top 10. He also contested 6 ETCC races in a Nissan Primera for RJN Motorsport that year.
Undeterred, Rob redoubled his efforts for 2003, moving up to the main Touring Class with a Vauxhall Astra. He beat several better-funded teams and drivers to win the Independent's Cup, and finished 10th overall ahead of several 'works' drivers. For 2004 there were less works teams, with MG pulling out and Honda scaling down to only one car. As a result, more competitive cars had independent status. Collard Racing had no realistic hope of matching Anthony Reid's independent MG or Matt Neal's Honda, and finished 6th in the Indy cup and 12th overall.
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