It's fair to say that Stephen Jꦦelley endured a ♎tough debut season in the BTCC in 2008 as he came to terms with the move from single-seater competition into tin-tops.

As a result, the ex-F3 race winner was keen to step up a gear in 2009 as he again competed with the Wesওt Surrey Racing-run Team RAC outfit alongside Colin Turk🅰ington.

While understandably overshadowed by his more experienced team-mate, Jelley made a solid start to the year to score in five of the first six races before suffering a large accident at Donington Park which♚ left the team racing to repair his car for Oulton Park - where he picked up another points finish.

Jelley then came of age as a BTCC driver at Croft with three podium finishes in three races despite treacherous wet weather conditions to head to the half-way stage of the season i♋n buoyant mood.

A testing shunt at Snetterton was followed by another heavy accident on race day but Jelley continued to battle hard to aid Turking♍ton's title challenge and secured his first victories in the series at a pivotal stage of the year with double success at Roc🏅kingham - aiding his team-mate no end in the process.

Jelley ultimately ended the season in seventh▨ place in the standings, just eight points behind Rob Collard - who had been a championship contender in the early stages.

As a result,🦄 you voted him ninth in our poll to find the top tenও drivers from the 2009 season.

Statistics:

Team: Team RACCar: BMW 320si (S2000)

Championship position: 7thPoints: 137

Independents' Championship position: 5thIndependents' Championship points: 165

Races: 30Pole positions: 0Victories: 2Fastest laps: 1Podiums: 3

NB: Pole position refers to qualifying, not to grid slot for race two or three on a weekend, decided by earlier race results

Podiums does not include race victories