AmD Milltek Racing.com driver Martin Byford is heading to Knockhill hoping to secure his first-ever top ten finish.
On his debut in the British Touring Car Championship last time at Snetterton Byford managed a best result of 14th – and after showing top ten pace in the practice sessions at the Norfolk track he is hoping to have a stronger meeting next weekend in Scotland.
“Looking back at Snetterton now I’ve had time to really reflect on it, I think it went well as a whole,” said Byford. “I know I pushed a bit too hard in qualifying and its shame we were forced to retire in race two with a gear linkage issue, but we made good progress throughout the weekend and I couldn’t have asked for much more – apart from a point!
“I’ve now had a weekend to get used to the car and to get to know the team a bit more and I’m going to Knockhill trying to unlock more of the potential that I know is in the Golf. I’ve raced there quite a lot in the past and it’s a circuit I enjoy, and it’s also one where I think the Golf will be strong. The car carries speed through the corners well, which is something you need at Knockhill, but you can’t afford a mistake as the lap is so short that the smallest of mistakes is going to cost you positions.
“I’m looking forward to my second weekend in the BTCC and hopefully I can continue the progress we made at Snetterton and push towards the top ten.”
Team Principal Shaun Hollamby also believes that the team are in with a strong chance of scoring points at Knockhill after he felt that the team missed out on points they were capable of scoring at Snetterton.
“We had a few small problems at Snetterton that meant we didn’t score points when we probably should have done, but at the same time, there were some things that we discovered that we will now benefit from,” admitted Hollamby. “I was pleased with how Martin performed in his first weekend and how well he fitted in with the team, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does at Knockhill, It’s a real drivers circuit and he is a good driver.
“The gearbox issue in the second race at Snetterton probably cost us points but hopefully we’ll put that right next weekend. The Golf is now performing well on all kinds of circuits and we went well at Knockhill last year, so we’re aiming to break back into the top ten again.”