James Pickford brought a six-grid slot penalty with him to Oulton Park after his coming together with Gavin
Smith at Brands Hatch. He took the penalty in Round 10 and to avoid any incidents started from the pit lane.
Like his team-mates, James found tyre wear a problem in the opening race but managed to secure a strong
9th placed finish having set a string of laps only equalled by the leaders.

Round 11 then saw the Macclesfield driver enjoy a great mid-field battle before he locked
up and overshot Island Hairpin on lap 9, flat-spotting his right front tyre. Recovering he finished in 7th with a
big vibration in the car.

Having never driven the Toledo Cupra in the rain before James did the same as Jason in the wet final race and
overshot Island Hairpin dropping him from 5th to 8th. He went on to finish Round 12 in 7th place regularly posting
Fastest race laps on his way.

James said: "It was always going to be a tough opening race for me here as I had to take the penalty from
Brands Hatch but the encouraging thing is that again we've got good pace. The final race was just a big
learning experience for me as I've never driven the car in the wet before and I found it difficult to judge how
many times to go back on the brakes. It was a difficult start as well as I didn't know how many revs to put on
the car and I got a lot of wheel spin off the line. I'm still learning a lot such as how to set the car up and stuff
but I'm quite glad we've had a wet race here because it means that I now know what to expect. We've got a
big gap now until Croft so I'm going to work really hard and get down the gym as I'm confident that it's only
a matter of time before I get my first podium."

2005 BTCC points (after Round 12)

Drivers
1. Matt Neal….152pts
2. Dan Eaves….128pts
3. Yvan Muller….119pts
4. Jason Plato….104pts
5. Rob Collard….65pts
6. Colin Turkington….64pts
7. Tom Chilton….46pts
8. James Pickford….43pts
9. Luke Hines….35pts
10. Gavin Smith….27pts

Manufacturers
1. Vauxhall….320pts
2. SEAT….294pts

Teams
Team Halfords….266pts
2. VX Racing….190pts
3. SEAT Sport UK….149pts
4. WSR….65pts
5. Arena Motorsports….43pts