Sam Tordoff tops Snetterton tyre test

Sam Tordoff was fastest in both the morning and afternoon session of the British Touring Car Championship’s official summer tyre test session at Snetterton as MG dominated the times.

Click here for the full morning session times.

Click here for the full afternoon session times.

In perfect hot summers conditions at the Norfolk venue, both Triple Eight-run MG drivers completed 94 laps to top the times, with Tordoff going 0.272 seconds faster than team-mate Jason Plato with a lap of 1:57.534 – around six hundredths of a second faster than the qualifying lap record around Snetterton 300.

Tordoff went fastest again in the afternoon session, beating Plato by 0.365 seconds, although with a lap more than a second slower than his time in the morning.

“It has been a really good day,” said Tordoff to btcc.net. “We’ve worked through our programme and completed so many laps. Days like this are invaluable to me – as a rookie I haven’t had a full test day so I really enjoyed it. It’s always great to see your name at the top of the timesheets and in terms of productivity; this has been one of my best days ever in motorsport.”

Andrew Jordan was the best of the rest with the third fastest time in both the morning and afternoon sessions – some 0.788 seconds off the pace in the morning, ending the morning as the only other driver with a second of the lead duo.

Neither works Honda of Matt Neal or Gordon Shedden are taking part in the ttwo-day test this week, citing logistical problems with staff holiday and the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed as the reasons.

An impressive time from Nick Tandy in the afternoon session saw the factory Porsche racer go fourth fastest at the wheel of the Motorbase NGTC Ford Focus.

The WSR-run eBay Motors team also enjoyed a strong afternoon session, with Colin Turkington heading Rob Collard and Nick Foster in fifth, seventh and ninth respectively.

Jack Goff posted the sixth fastest time during the afternoon session, 1.5 seconds off the pace in his Team HARD Vauxhall Insignia, following up an impressive seventh in the morning session.

Frank Wrathall, who is currently on trial for causing death by dangerous driving, was 11th and eighth fastest in the two sessions respectively.

The second Team HARD car will be trialled by four drivers over the duration of the two-day test, with Americna Robb Holland at the wheel during the morning session, where he managed 20th. Howard Fuller sat at the wheel of the car in the afternoon, posting the 21st fastest time.

Speedworks Motorsport are also testing several drivers this week, with Ollie Jackson doing the bulk of the running in the team’s first Toyota. He was joined by Ian Loggie in the morning session and Chris Jones and Rob Austin in the afternoon, with Austin making a surprise appearance in the Toyota for four laps in the afternoon.

Making a brief return to the BTCC was Mike Jordan, who took to the wheel of Jeff Smith’s Pirtek Racing Honda. Jordan Snr, who retired from the series at the end of 2008, was 14th and 13th fastest in the two sessions respectively.

Testing resumes at Snetterton on Wednesday 10th July.