RICKY Collard is looking forward to the next round of the British Touring Car Championship after a solid debut at Rockingham last weekend.

The 22-year-old stepped into the West Surrey Racing team in place of his father Rob Collard and qualified 26th on the grid, which was laess than a second from the pole sitter.

In race one he moved up to 17th doing well to avoid a first lap accident and setting the fifth fastest lap.

In his second outing on the Northamptonshire track he finished 20th and then had the misfortune in the final race as an issue stopped his car on the formation lap.

The next race is at Knockhill, Scotland, on the weekend of August 25-26.

Collard said: “The whole weekend’s been a huge learning experience. While the results weren’t what we’d hoped for, the potential is clearly there, as we proved by setting the fifth-fastest lap in race one.

"The race craft in this series is different to anything I’ve experienced in my racing career and it’s going to take a bit of time to get used to, but I’ll take everything I’ve learned here and put it into practice at Knockhill.”

Team Principal Dick Bennetts said: “Ricky had some very good speed in Race One, but got beaten up by some of the rough diving in Race Two. He was thrown in at the deep end, but he’s done a good job.”

His younger brother Jordan Collard was in action in the Mini Challenge at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit and finished fourth and fifth to leave him third in the championship.

He will next in action racing on Brands Hatch GP Circuit on the weekend of August 24 and 25.