United Autosports boss Richard Dean admits that his team still have work to do in order to progress further up the British Touring Car Championship grid, as the team head to Donington Park this weekend.
Drivers James Cole and Glynn Geddie lie 18th and 21st in the driver’s championship respectively after the team’s début at Brands Hatch, with Cole securing their best result of the weekend with a 14th placed finish. Team Owner Dean wants to see more regular points-position appearances in future races.
“Heading into the next rounds of the BTCC at Donington Park, we know we have some work to do to get our cars further up the grid and into the points positions,” said Dean. “We were pleased to score our first points with James in our debut outing with the cars, but we would like to be consistently in the points with both cars from the next couple of races.”
Cole believes that the Toyota has the pace and was only just over half a second off pole in qualifying last time out. However with a competitive 2014 field, Cole admits that a time could appear fast and still leave a driver down the order.
“Qualifying times of the Toyota at Donington last year suggests that the Avensis has pace there,” explained Cole. “But Brands proved just how competitive the series is this year and so we can’t rely on last year’s times and efforts as every car is pushing to find that last tenth.
“Donington is a lovely flowing circuit, fantastic for racing. I have fond memories of racing there in Formula Ford and Three – the latter being the last time I raced there.”
Scotsman Geddie enters only his second meeting in the BTCC and as a result is focussing on learning both the car and the series more with each session.
“It’s very early days in our BTCC programme,” said Geddie. “It’s a case of keeping our heads down and pushing forward to make the car and engine perform to its maximum.
“I love Donington and the Toyota should be well suited there. It’s a ‘power’ track so straight line speed is especially important. With each race at Brands Hatch, I became more confident in the Avensis and like myself, with every mile the team learns about the car.”
The first BTCC session of the weekend, first free practice, takes place at 10:00 on Saturday 19th April.