Though both plagued by teething problems in their new NGTC spec Toyota Avensis both Tony Hughes and Frank Wrathall left Brands Hatch in positive mind after a learning weekend with the car.
Both BTCC privateers ran very limited testing miles before the opening weekend of the season, Wrathall's Dynojet run car only firing up for the first time on the Thursday before the event, and both knew that they were in for a difficult weekend in the super-competitive series.
The 24-year-old was forced to retire from the first of the day's three races, due to electrical problems, which then kept the car off the grid for the day's remaining races.
“It's been a really tough weekend for the whole team, but we have taken a lot from it,” he said. “It was a massive achievement for us even to get to Brands Hatch, even more so given that the Toyota looks as professionally turned out as it does. We've worked well together as a team and I've had a glimpse of the car's potential, which is enormous.”
“We came here to get some miles under our belts,” said Hughes, “and that's what we did. We can be reasonably satisfied with our progress, I think.”
After retiring from race on with a broken oil line the Stockport-based driver notched up finishes in races two and three, despite small problems, including issues with the power steering – a system they were also struggling with at the series media day the week before the first races.
Both teams now face a busy fortnight before the series reconvenes at Donington Park, with fault-tracing and further development work planned.
