Fresh from his best Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship finish of ninth place at Donington Park, Martin Depper says that Eurotech Racing are in good shape heading to Thurxton on 9/10 May.
Depper trailed home team-mate and Eurotech owner, Jeff Smith, to 15th in race one at Donington on Sunday, surviving an incident in race two before charging from 19th to ninth in the final race of the day.
The result was the former Forster Motorsport man’s best result in the BTCC to date, climbing 10 spots to be fifth Independent on the road and move up to 11th in the overall Independent Drivers’ Championship as a result.
“I was disappointed to start the last race 19th, but over the moon to make up 10 places”, said an upbeat Depper to The Checkered Flag afterwards. “Game on.”
The ex-Mini Challenge champion’s race three result came after dicing with the likes of championship winners, Colin Turkington and Jason Plato, an experience he said was a critical learning tool.
“It was great to be with those guys, absolutely”, said Depper on the duels with the likes of the two double BTCC champions in the final race in Leicester.
“You learn so much watching them from being right up their arses. You also have a right little smile, because you think they’re looking in the mirror going ‘what’s he doing there?’ and it’s fair play with them.”
Eurotech duo showed improvements – Photo: btcc.net
The Honda Civic’s performance on the softer tyre was consistent in the hands of the two Eurotech drivers, Depper himself having his run on them hindered by a sideways moment in race two as Warren Scott and Alex Martin jostled for position with him at the chicane on lap one.
“I was happy in race one, disappointed with race two though because the Civic at the moment is not a bad car on the softer tyres – our set-up isn’t anyway”, added Depper, who says that the pace of himself and Smith has improved greatly from Brands Hatch.
“As long as we bring the tyres in steadily – which we were doing – then they seem to be fine. Obviously, I got helped around at the last corner which spoiled it, but we had some good pace.
“We know the cars are strong. It’s been about me getting my head into it and getting up to speed – it’s now great to see it paying off.”
Thurxton is the next venue for the BTCC on 9/10 May, Depper saying that he has fond memories of the visit to the Hampshire tarmac last year, a place where his then Eurotech team-mate, Andrew Jordan, was victorious from pole position.
“I’m looking forward to Thruxton. I was really happy at the end of the meeting there last year, but now I’ve got good memories of how the car felt and we’ve got some improvements on the back of this weekend to look forward to.”
