WIX Racing’s Adam Morgan admits that he has had to revise his expectations ahead of the first round of the British Touring Car Championship this weekend as a result of a stronger-than-expected pre-season testing programme.
Morgan enters his third season in the BTCC at the wheel of a new car, having raced a Toyota Avensis for his first two seasons in the series. Morgan’s car has been built largely using the NGTC components of his previous Toyota.
The Ciceley Racing driver has impressed in pre-season testing, culminating in him posting the fourth fastest time in last week’s wet media day test session. Consequently Morgan admits that he has revised his expectations ahead of the first round of the season.
“I’m so excited about this weekend and I can’t wait for the racing to start,” said Morgan. “A few months ago, I’d have said the opening rounds would be a case of ‘Let’s see how we get on’, but pre-season testing has gone well and we’ve revised our aims as a result.
“The team has done a fantastic job with the WIX Racing Mercedes and in the running we have done so far, the car has run reliably and we’ve shown we have good pace. However, it’s important for us to remember that this will be the first race weekend for the A-Class, so if we can bring home three top ten finishes against the competition there is then we’ll be happy.”
Morgan has already racked up testing mileage at Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Donington Park and is therefore optimistic of being on the pace throughout the weekend. It also marks the first appearance of a Mercedes-Benz in the modern era of the BTCC (1991-onwards).
“We’ve already had chance to run the car at Brands Hatch during testing and have a good base set-up to take into the weekend as a result. While we don’t know what the others have been doing during pre-season, I feel we’ve got a good package and I’m confident that we’ll be in the ball park and challenging for some strong points.”