Bell aims to repay fans.

Martyn Bell says he will be looking to repay fans who have shown faith in him as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Rockingham for the second round of the season this weekend.

Bell has been buoyed by the reaction of fans to his performance in the opening rounds of the season at Brands Hatch, where a noticeable upturn in performance saw him finish just outside the points in all three races.

"It's very flattering as it shows that people are paying attention to how we are getting on and want us to do well," Bell admitted. "It really lifts me and makes me want to do even better, it's like I'm being given a pat on the back and now I just want to get a bigger one!

"Strong support from the fans is almost worth another half a second a lap. When people are cheering you on and want you to do well, you are driving for them as well as driving for yourself. It makes you want to succeed even more and you don't want to let anyone down. As you get more successful, you get more support and hopefully our support will continue to grow as the season goes on."

Bell heads to Rockingham looking to try and repeat some of the success enjoyed during his time in the Kumho BMW Series, which included sitting on pole position during the inaugural race meeting at Rockingham - making him the first driver to do so.

With his confidence having also been boosted by the results gained at Brands Hatch, Bell said he was focused on trying to open his points account for the season at the Rock and saw no reason why it wouldn't be possible.

"It's nice to go back to a circuit where I have won in the past and where I've been successful," he said. "I've also had a car catch fire at Rockingham before but that's a different story! It's a circuit that should suit the BMW and if we can dial the car in around the in-field then we stand a good chance of some strong results as the car will be quick around the banking. I've not had the chance to push with this car at the circuit yet as we were only doing a shakedown at the media day, so we will treat Saturday morning as a bit of a test to get the set-up right and then go for it in qualifying.

"I want to head home with some points this weekend, and I don't just mean Independent points - I want to be scoring some proper championship points. That is our real objective for the weekend and if we can keep ourselves in with the leading pack then it is something I feel we can achieve. I want to try and qualify inside the top 15 and go from there, but we know that the BMW can easily make up two places off the line."