Tom Chilton topped the pile as the British Touring Car Championship took in it’s annual summer test at Snetterton on 16 and 17 July during the break before the championship returns at the circuit at the beginning of August.
Chilton set a laptime of 1:56.144 that was recorded early into the running that topped the times for the Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher driver with Dan Cammish ending up just 0.118 seconds behind for Halfords Yuasa Racing.
The Reigate driver spoke after testing and said that it was a real chance for them to push the car. He added as well that due to a poor test in Spain due to conditions; it was a vital few days and this showed in their results.
“To be honest we really gave it some out there,” said Chilton. “We’re obviously testing different compounds and set-ups, but this is a real chance for us to push forwards with the car.
“We had a pre-season test in Spain but the conditions weren’t great there, so this is a vital few days in preparation for the rest of the season.”
The same can be said for Chilton’s teammate Ollie Jackson who ended up just behind Chilton and Cammish’s performance from Tuesday and Jackson who enjoyed a good return to form at Oulton Park said that it had been a really productive time and a good pre-cursor to the race meeting at the circuit in a few weeks time.
“It has been a really productive test,” said Jackson.“We’ve learnt a lot and written some things off too, but we seem to be in good shape for the remainder of the year.
“We’ve learnt a lot and written some things off too, but we seem to be in good shape for the remainder of the year.
“We haven’t really been rewarded with the results we’ve deserved so far this season. We have had some bad luck and made a few minor errors that have been unduly punished, so overall we just haven’t had the rub of the green.
“Of course, topping the times in testing doesn’t win you any points, but it’s a good feeling and a great boost ahead of the event here in a few weeks’ time.”
Other good performances came from the aforementioned Cammish who was second on both occasions and Sam Tordoff for Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing who finished fourth overall.
Fan favourite Rob Austin returned to running in the championship after using this year as a sabbatical and he showed he still had pace in the Alfa Romeo with a brilliant sixth on Wednesday. The likes of Colin Turkington, Tom Ingram and Jake Hill all also showed good pace round the circuit finishing inside the top ten.
In terms of absentees on Day Two, Andrew Jordan who is currently challenging Turkington for the Drivers Championship did not run with Jason Plato, Matt Neal and Ash Sutton also not involved.
This allowed for Halfords Yuasa Racing, the opportunity to see Henry Neal; Matt’s son in action during the final afternoon with Dan Kirby, team boss of Trade Price Cars Racing also getting a run out. Max Coates and Ethan Hammerton also returned to the championship in the Team HARD VW’s joining the 32 drivers who completed more than 3100 laps around the Norfolk circuit.
2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship – Snetterton Test Combined Classification
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