The last few weeks have been a hive of activity for many of the teams in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship as they gear up for one of the most anticipated events on the 2013 calendar – Oulton Park (8-9 June).
The general test day at Donington Park (30 May) saw no less than five teams out on-track making the most of an opportunity to test in both wet and dry conditions. Both Honda Yuasa Racing drivers were present, and reigning BTCC champion Gordon Shedden commented via the team’s video round-up, “It was a little bit wet this morning then dry in the afternoon, so we managed to work through quite a lot of our programme. Obviously it’s a general test day so traffic made things quite difficult. It was nice to get back in the car - it feels like ages since Thruxton and I can’t wait to get started for Oulton Park next week.”
His team-mate Matt Neal added, “It was a mixed day – there was a lot of traffic around. We’ve been working a lot on the rear end of the car, and the wet set-up. We’ve got quite a bit of data to go through, so there’s plenty of work to do yet.”
Two of the three independent Toyota teams were also making use of the track time. Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan, and Speedworks Motorsport’s Dave Newsham and Ollie Jackson all pounded round the Leicestershire circuit in anticipation of what is a home event for both teams at Oulton Park in just over a week’s time.
Speedworks are confident that they have made big steps forward after a successful test last week at Pembray (read full interview with Dave Newsham here: www.bit.ly/13QybfS). Jackson said at the end of the day, “The level of wet grip is amazing, but the car got better again in the dry session after lunch. I think we have found a thing or two in these two tests.”
After running a three-car test earlier in the week at Snetterton, Airwaves Racing concentrated on the two current cars of Mat Jackson and Aron Smith at Donington Park and will be back there again on Monday to further improve the NGTC Ford Focus. Likewise eBay Motors are working hard on the BMW 125i M Sport cars, as Nick Foster was out at Donington Park following a test for Colin Turkington and Rob Collard at Silverstone last week.
All this testing and development stands as testament to the commitment of the current BTCC teams. We will, however, have to wait until the lights go out on Sunday at Oulton Park (9 June) to find out the result of all their efforts.
The general test day at Donington Park (30 May) saw no less than five teams out on-track making the most of an opportunity to test in both wet and dry conditions. Both Honda Yuasa Racing drivers were present, and reigning BTCC champion Gordon Shedden commented via the team’s video round-up, “It was a little bit wet this morning then dry in the afternoon, so we managed to work through quite a lot of our programme. Obviously it’s a general test day so traffic made things quite difficult. It was nice to get back in the car - it feels like ages since Thruxton and I can’t wait to get started for Oulton Park next week.”
His team-mate Matt Neal added, “It was a mixed day – there was a lot of traffic around. We’ve been working a lot on the rear end of the car, and the wet set-up. We’ve got quite a bit of data to go through, so there’s plenty of work to do yet.”
Two of the three independent Toyota teams were also making use of the track time. Ciceley Racing’s Adam Morgan, and Speedworks Motorsport’s Dave Newsham and Ollie Jackson all pounded round the Leicestershire circuit in anticipation of what is a home event for both teams at Oulton Park in just over a week’s time.
Speedworks are confident that they have made big steps forward after a successful test last week at Pembray (read full interview with Dave Newsham here: www.bit.ly/13QybfS). Jackson said at the end of the day, “The level of wet grip is amazing, but the car got better again in the dry session after lunch. I think we have found a thing or two in these two tests.”
After running a three-car test earlier in the week at Snetterton, Airwaves Racing concentrated on the two current cars of Mat Jackson and Aron Smith at Donington Park and will be back there again on Monday to further improve the NGTC Ford Focus. Likewise eBay Motors are working hard on the BMW 125i M Sport cars, as Nick Foster was out at Donington Park following a test for Colin Turkington and Rob Collard at Silverstone last week.
All this testing and development stands as testament to the commitment of the current BTCC teams. We will, however, have to wait until the lights go out on Sunday at Oulton Park (9 June) to find out the result of all their efforts.