Tom Chilton heads to the third round of the British Touring Car Championship in a confident mood this weekend, with the Motorbase Performance driver having been amongst the quickest in the pre-season test at the track last month.
Chilton topped the morning test session at Thruxton in early April, before Subaru’s Ash Sutton leapt to the top of the overall times in the afternoon.
But the former WTCC racer believes that his pace is still amongst the best at the Hampshire circuit, and Chilton is targeting an upturn in form at the third event of the season.
“I’ve qualified on pole here twice in the BTCC and last year took the fastest lap,” said Chilton. “We were fastest here in this year’s pre-season test before we made a race set-up change, so we know we have the pace around Thruxton.
“We’re very happy with the performance of the car; we now just need the luck to change so we can grab the results we all know we deserve.”
Chilton admits that the high-speed circuit has special memories for him as it represents the setting for one of his early first-hand experiences of motorsport.
“Thruxton is where the magic started for me back in 1998; at 13 years old I was let loose every Thursday in a Golf GTI and Lotus Elise.
“It’s where I learnt about weight transfer and how to heel and toe, change gear and also what a racing line was too.”
Chilton is currently 15th overall in the drivers’ championship standings with 24 points to his name.