REIGNING champion Des Thresh faces an anxious wait to see if he will be able to compete in the opening race weekend of the new Kumho Tyres BMW Championship.

REIGNING champion Des Thresh faces an anxious wait to see if he will be able to compete in the opening race weekend of the new Kumho Tyres BMW Championship.

The Huntingdon driver was crowned both the overall and Class B winner – after a late appeal from rival Stephan Lanfermeijer – in what was just his second year of racing last season.

Rounds one and two of the new campaign take place at Silverstone on Saturday and Sunday respectively, but an anxious Thresh admits there is a chance he might not make the start.

“The car is not ready at the moment,” he said.

“We’re having a few issues with it and are not 100 per cent sure whether we’re going to be out at the weekend.

“Although we’ve been burning the midnight oil this week, we just don’t know where we are at the moment.

“But we’ll pull out all the stops to make sure we’re out at Silverstone.”

It has been a winter of frustration and setbacks for Thresh, who also said this week he had originally hoped to move up to Class A from Class B, but is still unsure.

He continued: “We were waiting for specially-made parts to arrive - which were meant to be here back in December – but they didn’t arrive until two weeks ago, which has delayed things.

“And until we’re able to see what brake horsepower we’re making, we don’t know whether we’ll be running in Class A or B.”

Should Thresh not make the start of the season, his focus will then turn to rounds three and four, which take place at Snetterton over the weekend of April 16 and 17.