Bell chasing further progress with new 'box.

Having finally secured a sequential gearbox for his BMW 320i, Martyn Bell will be aiming to make further progress when the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship arrives at Thruxton for the fourth round of the year.

After a tough start to the season at Brands Hatch and Mondello Park, Bell enjoyed his best weekend so far in the series at Oulton Park last time out, qualifying on the second row of the grid in difficult conditions and racing with the rest of the pack for the first time.

However, the H-pattern endurance gearbox in his car continued to cause problems throughout the weekend in Cheshire but it has now been replaced - leaving Bell in confident mood heading to the quickest circuit on the calendar.

"Yeah I'm looking forward to it, especially with the weather forecast being dry," he told Crash.net Radio. "It's a good circuit and one that should suit the BMW a lot as I'll be able to really pin its lugs back on the back straight, plus I'll finally be running a sequential gearbox.

"The gearbox should hopefully bolt on some time without too much effort. With the H-Pattern box, when you have so many gear changes in a lap, it can be very easy to select the wrong gear and the hotter the gearbox was getting, the more often you were getting a fifth instead of a third - especially out of a hairpin.

"I'm looking forward to being able to take my mind off the gearbox and concentrate on my lines and things like that. I'm very confident and I think we'll be ok."

Having made steps forward last time out, Bell was also clear on his aims for the coming weekend.

"Progress is what we are looking for as we have made steps forward every time we have been out," he said. "If we keep doing that, then by the time we get to Donington Park and Snetterton we would like to think we can be a serious contender in the top ten.

"The problem we had before Oulton Park is that we haven't been racing anyone, but we raced people there and it was the first time I really enjoyed driving the car."

For the 2006 season, you can become a sponsor of Martyn Bell and the Geoff Steel Racing BMW in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship as, for ?550, you can purchase space on the chequered flag that adorns the roof of Martyn's car. Visit www.martynbellracing.com/sponsors/ for more information and to purchase your space on the car.