Hi everyone, I hope that you all enjoyed the opening rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch…we certainly did!
It was nice to finally get the ball rolling in the opening rounds of the championship. Over the winter months it has been absolutely chaotic with trying to get everything ready for the Media Day, and to get in the car on its first dry run and go fourth, filled me with confidence ahead of Rounds 1, 2 & 3.
Everything went well from start to finish during our first weekend as a team in the series, and to get into my Mercedes-Benz Ciceley Racing Toyota Avensis on an official BTCC race weekend, was a dream come true for Russell Morgan (aka The Ginger Prince), and I.
Saturday morning was very busy for us because we have two Free Practice sessions ahead of qualifying on a BTCC race weekend. This gives us an insight into track conditions, whilst also giving us a chance to play around with potential strategies for qualifying and the races.
We were able to complete FP1 and FP2 in 15th and 5th place respectively, slowly getting more and more used to the car and the set-up that we intended to use during the course of the weekend.
Ahead of qualifying, we set ourselves a target of qualifying inside the top ten. After FP2 we thought that this would be achievable, but knew at the same time that there would be some fierce competition at the front of the grid.
To bag a tenth position and then follow that feat up with 3 top ten finishes in our first weekend was absolutely brilliant.
To be at the front in the final race of the day, challenging the likes of Matt Neal, Jason Plato and Gordon Shedden for an overall victory on our debut was unreal. I even got to take a trophy home for winning the Independents’ Class in the final race…BOOM!
I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everybody at Ciceley Racing during the course of the weekend. We have collected a brilliant team of people during the off-season and come together to produce a magnificent result in our first weekend in the BTCC.
We’re all ready to go for Donington Park in two weeks time, and I can’t wait to try and mirror the same performance as Brands.
Be sure to come and say hello to us as always, see you in Leicestershire!