Tony Hughes and the Speedworks Motorsport team are half way through their second season in the British Touring Car Championship, having been the first team to announce their intentions to run an NGTC Toyota Avensis.
Hughes is one of the least experienced drivers on the grid, having made his racing debut seven years ago and this is his second campaign in a Front Wheel Drive car.
Speaking to TouringCars.net after the third race at Snetterton, the 54 Year old looks back over his first 18 months in the series and what his aims and ambitions are.
“I have been racing for six years,” explains Hughes. “I started racing when I was older than the oldest driver I am up against in the British Touring Car Championship.”
Looking back at the series which he made his debut in, Hughes added: “I made my debut in the Ginetta G20’s.
“I had a great crash here (Snetterton) at the first corner. Everyone piled into the back of everybody else. The hinge broke at the front of the bonnet and hit me on the head – and it was on TV!”
The 2011 BTCC campaign got underway at Brands Hatch and the Kent circuit marked the debut for Hughes in the BTCC, but the weekend didn’t go according to plan for Hughes or the team.
“I was very apprehensive as I was the first NGTC car to start a British Touring Car Championship race,” continued the #50 Speedworks Motorsport driver. “I had never been on a race circuit in a Front Wheel Drive car until last year and the car wasn’t working properly.
“I was on the track in a car which didn’t work properly; the first race I retired as the car was overheating, the second race the car was on fire and the third race the suspension had collapsed!
“So yeah, I was pretty apprehensive. In the second race, Jason Plato crashed into the back of me as I was entering the pits for no reason at all,” added Hughes.
The Toyota Avensis which started the 2011 campaign has changed considerably compared to the car in its present state and Hughes explains the changes.
“Quite considerably. They have done quite a lot of modifications as the design wasn’t as good as it could have been.
“We have also made a number of changes ourselves and we are starting to get on top of the car.”
Over the winter, the team had double BTCC Champion James Thompson in the car, but Hughes admitted that they didn’t have enough time to complete the test programme.
“Having James Thompson was good, as he’s a star. We didn’t have enough time to take it as far as we wanted to with the testing.”
Hughes had to miss Croft due to prior commitments and the team drafted in Paul O’Neill for the weekend and for Hughes, having fans favourite Owy drive helped the team.
“Paul O’Neill racing the car, he came with different ideas for the car which we tried and he had a lot of good stuff,” added Hughes.
Hughes also confirmed that O’Neill is in the car at Knockhill: “Lets hope Paul can get a good result in my car at Knockhill.”
It’s just Knockhill that I’m missing now,” confirmed Hughes. “I’ll have done 8 at the end of the season, that’s enough for me. I’m here to enjoy myself; I’m not here to win Championships.
“I’m here to see if someone of my age and my inexperience can be competitive at the highest level of Motorsport and I feel that I’ve pretty much achieved that.”
Having secured a best result of twelfth at Oulton Park earlier in the season, Hughes heads into his final three races with one simple ambition.
“If I can break into the top ten, I’ll be happy. That’s my ambition,” explains Hughes. “That is all I ever want, if I can get a top ten finish I’ll be happy.”
Adam Morgan joined the team for the 2012 season, having won the Ginetta GT Supercup title in 2011 and Ginetta themselves put up the prize of the BTCC drive.
“A lot actually, it helps a lot,” adds Hughes. “We have a lot more data, so we can compare what I do. It’s a big help for me as it means more eyes and ears on things and with set up’s.
“I also help Adam with some of the slower corners. Overall its 2/3rds for Adam and 1/3 for me. He’s a good team-mate.”
Trying to predict a Champion proved to be impossible for Hughes: “Good question really. They have all had a good crack at it. I like (Matt) Neal, I don’t know JP that well, nor do I know Gordon Shedden that well. I will leave that one open!” concludes Hughes.
After Snetterton, Hughes has 11 Championship points and finds himself 23rd overall and 16th in the Independent drivers while Speedworks Motorsport are 13th in the HiQ Teams’ Championship and 9th in the Independent teams’ Championship.