Race Reports

Marvin Humphries, Tech-Speed Team Manager: Free practice: “We had a small off at Clearways resulting in front splitter damage which lost us some time in the first session. The second session went well, we made a few set up changes.”

Qualifying: “We improved vastly through Clearways. The car had oversteer at Paddock Hill. We’ll be changing setup to help this in the race. The fuel flow metering is very useful.”

Fiona Leggate: “I’m a bit disappointed with qualifying, but I’ve made major steps forward with my confidence for the car. I’ve got a big improvement at Clearways and I was ninth through the speed traps.”

Qualifying position: 14th Time: 50.640

The weather held after fears of hailstorms at Brands Hatch during the first weekend of the British Touring Car Championship, with three races in a busy Sunday schedule for 25 year old Fiona Leggate in the E85-fuelled Thurlby Motors Boston Bowl Tech-Speed Astra with EEMS support.

During Saturday qualifying, a small off at Clearways resulted in front splitter damage which lost some time in the first session. Set up changes for the second session worked well, with vast improvements at Clearways resulting in 14th position with a time of 50.640. “I’ve made major steps forward with my confidence for the car,” said Fiona. “I’ve got a big improvement at Clearways and I was ninth through the speed traps.”

Sunday’s first race saw Fiona’s car fail to start due to electrical problems. However after a solid second race finishing 12th after losing 8 seconds with a spin, the third race was a big step forward for Fiona and the team, with an improvement of half a second a lap, which meant she was running only three-tenths off the pace of the midfield runners.

‘I had a really good last race, although I flat-spotted the tyres with a spin at Clearways again on the seventh lap,” said Fiona. ‘It felt really good to be running this pace, I was hanging onto Jason Hughes and I felt I could have got past him but for the spin. My best lap time was faster then his. The car is set up better for me now, except after the spin I had understeer. I’m pleased with the weekend.’

Tech-Speed Team Manager Marvin Humphries was also pleased: “It’s been constructive. We’ve been working with Fiona here to set up the car for her and we’ve seen some results. It’s gone well, there’s a definite step up, it will help her confidence too. We are setting a series of small steps to achieve for improvements and this weekend we’re pleased with the way it’s gone. We had no problems with the bio-ethanol fuel, and the fuel flow metering system is useful.”      

All three races were won by new Seat Leon on its debut outing, the first and second races by James Thompson and the third race by team mate Jason Plato in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

See full race information on www.btcc.net.

The next round will be at Mondello Park, Ireland on 23 April.