Robert John Collard (born 1 October 1968) is a British auto racing driver from Hampshire, best known for racing in the British Touring Car Championship, winning two races in a West Surrey Racing MG, and claiming the Independent's Cup title in 2003. In 2008, he returned to running the series full-time, driving for the Motorbase Performance team, where he remained for 2009, before returning to West Surrey Racing. Collard also owns his own demolition firm, R Collard Ltd.

Career For many years, Collard raced hot rods, only switching to circuit racing in his late 20s. He raced Formula Ford for 3 years. However, as most drives in Formula 3 and higher went to younger drivers, he turned his attention to saloon based racing, coming third in the Vauxhall SRi V6 championship.

In 2000, the British Touring Car Championship launched Class B, featuring lower-powered but cheaper cars, to fill its relatively thin grid. Rob took up this opportunity, and finished fourth overall in his class. He only raced a partial season in the renamed Production Class in 2001, concentrating on preparing a Renault Clio for a full assault on the Production Class in 2002 with his own Collard Racing team.

The season was a disaster, however. Engine reliability and lasting performance was low, and a victory and a 2nd in the opening meeting proved to be a false dawn, as the small team struggled to get working machinery to the races,"Collard Racing retires from 2002 BTCC" and he was outside the championship top 10. He also contested 6 ETCC races in a Nissan Primera for RJN Motorsport that year.

Undeterred, Collard redoubled his efforts for 2003, moving up to the main Touring Class with a Vauxhall Astra."Collard acquires Astra for 2003 BTCC" He beat several better-funded teams and drivers to win the Independent's Cup, and finished tenth overall ahead of several 'works' drivers.Touring-Cars.Net » Results » 2003 » 2003 Drivers Championship For 2004, there were less works teams, with MG pulling out and Honda scaling down to only one car. As a result, more competitive cars had independent status. Collard Racing had no realistic hope of matching Anthony Reid's independent MG or Matt Neal's Honda, and finished sixth in the Indy cup and 12th overall.

In 2005, Collard replaced Reid in West Surrey Racing's MG, concentrating purely on racing rather than team ownership. This was his most competitive season to date, with two outright wins and seventh place overall. For 2006, he was joined in the team by Colin Turkington under WSR's new guise "Team RAC". This time, he finished ninth overall with a single podium.

Collard's heavy-handed tactics often come under criticism from fellow drivers and teams, as well as numerous fans of the series. It is believed that Rob's racing licence amassed 9 points in the 2006 season, just three short of a ban from racing. Fellow drivers have often spoken out about his lack of driving standards, one going as far as to describe him as a "rock-ape" at a 2006 meeting.

In 2007, Collard had no BTCC drive, instead contesting the early rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup UK, achieving little success in these big difficult-to-control rear-wheel-drive cars. He contested the final round of the BTCC for GR Asia, and returned full-time in 2008 in a Motorbase BMW. At Croft, he scored their best-ever result in fourth, after he and team-mate Steven Kane ran 3rd and 4th for a while. The team had worked on damper settings before the meeting. For 2009, Collard and Jonathan Adam race Motorbase's BMWs. He won two races early on in 2009 at the opening round at Brands Hatch and at Donington Park. He came close to adding a third at Snetterton, before contact with James Nash saw him spin across the track into the path of Stephen Jelley, resulting in a huge collision. Collard complained of abdominal pain and was taken to hospital, while Nash was excluded from the results. He then suffered another big incident at the next round at Knockhill when he and Matt Neal collided after Matt Neal lost control of car. Blighted by incidents and 'DNFs' through the second half of the season, Collard was unable to match the form of the first half of the season but still ended up sixth in the BTCC drivers championship, his best performance in the BTCC so far.

For 2010, Collard returned to West Surrey Racing, replacing reigning champion Colin Turkington who had failed to raise the necessary budget. He finished the year in ninth place.

Collard remained with WSR for 2011 but failed to register a race win. He finished the year eighth in the Drivers Championship. In 2012, he won three races with the team thus finishing fifth overall his best final championship position. In 2013, the team re-signed 2009 champion Colin Turkington. WSR also introduced the new BMW 3 series. Collard achieved a solitary podium and finished up in 13th place overall.

In 2014, Collard again remained with WSR, winning one race and finishing sixth in the drivers championship. He remained with the team for 2015, where he won the first race of the season and finished in tenth place in the championship.

For 2020, Collard made his British GT Championship debut for Barwell Motorsport, driving a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo. On 8 November at the season finale the Silverstone 500, Collard and team mate Sandy Mitchell took victory in the race and were confirmed as British GT Champions.

Personal life Collard's family starred in an episode of Channel 4's Wife Swap, shown during October 2006. He has told ITV's BTCC coverage that his hero was the late Colin McRae, and his ambition is to win the World Touring Car Championship. He is the father of racing driver Ricky Collard. He also has a son - Jordan Collard - a fiancé - Vicky - and an unborn son.

Collard endorsed the Conservative Party in the 2019 United Kingdom general election.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results (key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 2000–2002 all races, 2003–present just in first race, 2000–2003 in class). Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 2001–present all races, 2000–2003 in class) * signifies that driver led race for at least one lap (1 point given – 2003–present all races).

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Pts Class 2000 Bintcliffe Sport Nissan Primera BRH1 BRH2 DON1Ret DON2Ret THR1DNS THR2DNS KNO1 KNO2 OUL1ovr:12cls:3 OUL2ovr:11cls:2 SIL1ovr:13cls:4 SIL2Ret CRO1ovr:11cls:2 CRO2ovr:8cls:3 SNE1Ret SNE2ovr:9cls:1 DON1ovr:14cls:4 DON2Ret BRH1Ret BRH2ovr:12cls:2 OUL1Ret OUL2DNS SIL1Ret SIL2Ret N/A 81 4th 2001 Collard Racing Renault Clio 172 BRH16† BRH2DNS THR1Ret THR2NC OUL1Ret OUL2DNS SIL1ovr:12cls:6 SIL2Ret MON1Ret MON2DNS DON1ovr:11cls:4 DON2Ret KNO1ovr:10cls:5 KNO2ovr:8cls:4 SNE1ovr:5cls:3 SNE2Ret CRO1 CRO2 OUL1DNS OUL2DNS SIL1ovr:11cls:6 SIL2Ret DON1WD DON2WD BRH1ovr:17cls:9 BRH2Ret -5 N/A 46 13th 2002 Collard Racing Renault Clio 172 BRH1ovr:7cls:2 BRH2ovr:9*cls:1 OUL1WD OUL2WD THR1DNS THR2DNS SIL1ovr:14cls:2 SIL2Ret MON1 MON2 CRO1DNS CRO2DNS SNE1 SNE2 KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 -5 N/A 34 12th 2003 Collard Racing Vauxhall Astra Coupé MON1ovr:6cls:6 MON2ovr:7cls:7 BRH1ovr:13cls:13 BRH2Ret THR1Ret THR2DNS SIL1Ret SIL2ovr:9cls:9 ROC1ovr:7cls:7 ROC2ovr:5cls:5 CRO1Ret CRO2ovr:8cls:8 SNE1ovr:8cls:8 SNE2ovr:6cls:6 BRH1Ret BRH2Ret DON1ovr:9*cls:9 DON2ovr:16cls:16 OUL1ovr:8cls:8 OUL2ovr:7cls:7 10th 42 2004 Collard Racing Vauxhall Astra Coupé THR1 THR2 THR3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 MON1 MON2 MON3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 DON1 DON2 DON3 12th 44 2005 West Surrey Racing MG ZS DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 MON1 MON2 MON3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 7th 173 2006 Team RAC MG ZS BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 MON1 MON2 MON3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 9th 97 2007 GR Asia SEAT León BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 DON1 DON2 DON3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 THR1 THR2 THR3 27th 1 2008 Motorbase Performance BMW 320si BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 12th 84 2009 Airwaves BMW BMW 320si BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 THR1 THR2 THR3 DON1 DON2 DON3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL16* SIL2 SIL3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 6th 145 2010 WSR BMW 320si THR1 THR2 THR3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 DON1 DON2 DON3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 8th 144 2011 WSR BMW 320si BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 8th 108 2012 eBay Motors BMW 320si BRH1 BRH26* BRH36* DON110* DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL214* OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 5th 303 2013 eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 13th 140 2014 eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 -3 6th 275 2015 Team JCT600with GardX BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 10th 226 2016 Team JCT600with GardX BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 5th 278 2017 Team BMW BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 5th 256 2018 Team BMW BMW 125i M Sport BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 ROC1 ROC2 ROC3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 19th 86 2019 Sterling Insurance withPower Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON1 DON2 DON3 THR1 THR2 THR3 CRO1 CRO2 CRO3 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 THR1 THR2 THR3 KNO1 KNO2 KNO3 SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 16th 118 † Event with 2 races staged for the different classes.

Complete European Touring Car Championship results (key)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Pts 2002 RJN Motorsport Nissan Primera MAG1 MAG2 SIL1 SIL2 BRN1 BRN2 JAR1 JAR2 AND1 AND2 OSC1 OSC2 SPA1 SPA2 PER1 PER2 DON1 DON2 EST1 EST2 27th 0

Complete British GT Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points 2020 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 GT3 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 BRH1 DON1 SNE1 SNE2 SIL1 1st 168 2024 Black Bull-Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 GT3 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 DON1 SPA1 SNE1 SNE2 DON1 BRH1 1st 182 2025 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 GT3 DON1 SIL1 OUL1 OUL2 SPA1 SNE1 SNE2 BRH1 DON1 5th 133 2026 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 GT3 SIL1 OUL1 OUL2 SPA1 SNE1 SNE2 DON1 BRH1 3rd 125.5

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points 2024 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Bronze BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 HOC1 HOC2 MAG1 MAG2 CAT1 CAT2 2nd 67.5

References

External links Official Website Profile at BTCCPages.com