Burgess Hill driver John Whitbourn will be hoping for a change of luck when he visits Silverstone in August.
Before another unlucky time at Brands Hatch on Sunday, his only previous outing this year had been at the Kent track in April, when fuel pump failure caused him to retire while lying second in his race in the FFZetec class.
Lack of money and time me
ant Whitbourn was unable to contest the Formula 4 championship this year but he was hoping for a change of fortune on his return to Brands last weekend.
But fuel pressure problems on lap six curtailed his qualifying and though he still started third in class, good efforts came to little when the race was stopped due to crashes.
On the restart, Whitbourn lined up second and was moving away from the third placed driver when the engine cut out.
Still the fuel problem appeared unsolved as Whitbourn started the next race at the back of the grid. However, he had moved through to second by the midway point when suddenly the rear end started sliding badly.
The local driver did well to hang to second spot for so long but in the end could only hope to complete the race, which only 15 of the 26 starters managed.
When Whitbourn returned to the pits the problem with the rear of the car was patently obvious as he had a flat tyre.
He said: "We think we've solved the problem with the fule system and it was sheer bad luck to then get a puncture. It felt like the rear tyres were runnning on ice.
"We must get some better luck at Silverstone if I want to go one better than last year's second place there."
