Donington Park saw the Independent Toyota trio of Frank Wrathall, Adam Morgan and Tony Hughes all pick up points finishes during rounds four, five and six of the 2012 British Touring Car Championship.
Leading the way in the East Midlands was Dynojet’s Frank Wrathall. Having been the fastest Toyota driver in qualifying with the eleventh fastest time of the session, he climbed up the order to ninth in the first race.
Round five saw Wrathall looking to improve on his ninth place finish but contact with Aron Smith sent the Garstang based driver down the order and Wrathall secured a fourteenth place finish.
The final race of the day saw Wrathall secure his best result of the weekend as he fought his way up the order to seventh at the flag, despite a small mistake at the chicane which dropped him down the order.
“The Toyota felt good and we’re making progress with it all the time,” he said. “It was a shame that we had the clash in race two and we should really have been fourth or fifth in the final race, but then I made a mistake at the chicane which cost me places. It was good to be in the mix and race three was my best of the year so far. I enjoyed it.”
After his nightmare of a debut at Brands Hatch, Adam Morgan brought home the #33 Speedworks Motorsport Avensis home in the opening two races of the day. An off in qualifying left Morgan down in twentieth for the opening race at Donington Park, the 2011 Ginetta GT Supercup Champion produced a solid drive to recover fifteenth, before further improvements in the second race.
Having recorded a thirteenth place finish in the second race of the day, Morgan saw his weekend end early due to an issue with the brakes on his Avensis. Despite this, he was pleased with how the weekend had gone.
I’ve learned a lot this weekend and I’m pleased to have points on the board,” said the Ciceley Racing driver. “I have a lot more confidence and it feels great to have been out there competing against some of the top drivers in the field.”
Having scored his first Championship point at Brands Hatch, Morgan’s Speedworks Motorsport team-mate Tony Hughes picked up another fifteenth place finish in the final race of the weekend.
Hughes had to retire from the opening race with damaged suspension but bounced back with a sixteenth place finish in the second race of the day before his top fifteen finish in the final race.
“The track was so cold it was taking more time to get the tyres up to temperature,” said Cheshire-based Tony. “It left me on the back foot a bit as I was struggling to get the heat into the tyres.”
Next up for the Toyota trio is a trip to Hampshire and the Thruxton circuit over the 28/29 April, for rounds seven, eight and nine of the Championship.