GoMobileUK.com with Tech-Speed Motorsport enjoyed a productive day at the official Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Media Day at Silverstone. After unveiling their new Cruzes' to the Media in the morning, they had a strong test around the National circuit in the afternoon.
After sharing a single car during the team's previous tests at Brands Hatch and Snetterton, the teams drivers Paul O'Neill and John George both had their own cars on track as preparations build ahead of the season opener at Brands Hatch on April 2/3.
O'Neill, who took the team's ageing Honda Integra to three podium finishes last season, completed 37 laps as his car took to the track for the first time. The Widnes-based drivers best lap saw him end the day ninth on the timesheets, just 0.6s from the top.
O'Neill said: “We had a good day. It was all about spending time in the car and we also managed to scrub in some new tyres ready for the opening round which is what we set out to do. The time was decent enough as my quickest lap wasn't perfect, and it was only two-tenths of a second behind Jason Plato.
“The important thing to remember is that when we get to the business end of the season, no-one will remember who was fastest on Media Day, so today was all about carrying out the work we had planned and not worrying about ending the day on top of the times.”
Team-mate George added a further 48 laps running onto his car, setting a best time just under 0.8s off his team-mate's best, ending the day 16th fastest.
George commented: “It's been okay. I didn't make the most of the track when it was at its best and the fastest laps were set, but I was able to lap consistently and it was a solid start to the season. I was also able to run on new tyres for the first time which was good and I'm confident going into the opening rounds.”
Tech-Speed team boss Marvin Humphries was also happy with the day's work, saying: “I think it's been a case of mission accomplished. We went out to do a job and work through our programme and it wasn't all about throwing new tyres at the car to try and set the best time and steal the headlines.
“As a team, we've been able to spend more time learning about the car and have tried out a few changes, and both Paul and John have been able to spend some good time behind the wheel. We can now look at what we have learned here and get ready to start the season in a week's time.”