Team HARD’s Michael Crees brought the curtain down on the first half of his maiden Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season at Oulton Park by producing a trio of battling performances.

Following Saturday’s two free practice sessions, qualifying around the 2.23 mile circuit proved to be as ultra-competitive as ever in the glorious Cheshire sunshine; with Crees ending up P27 on the grid for race one.

Lining up on the penultimate row of the grid, the Kent racer found himself in the thick of the action as he went wheel-to-wheel for a majority of the opening encounter.

Trading places as the race progressed, Crees ultimately took the chequered flag in 27th.

Making some minor changes to the car between races, Crees enjoyed a stronger showing in Round 14 as he once again duked it out with a host of rivals just outside of the top 20, taking the chequered flag in 24th.

The reigning Ginetta GT4 SuperCup AM champion capped off his weekend in the third and final race with another gritty performance to take a best finish of the Oulton Park spectacular of 22nd.

“It has been a tough weekend and I’m glad to get it done,” said Crees. “I expected to perform a little better than I did but we are still really learning what it takes to get the best out of myself and the car.

“Little changes make a big difference to the car and that is something that we need to get on top of. The more seat time I get the more progress we are going to make. I’m loving everything about the BTCC though; meeting the fans, speaking to the media – it’s all part of the experience.

“Looking back on the first half of the season it has been a bit of a rollercoaster in terms of results but I’m loving every second. To score points on my debut was a dream come true and the aim is to add to that tally throughout the rest of year; it’s something that I’m confident we can achieve.”