Sam Tordoff says that he already feels at home back in the British Touring Car Championship paddock, after a year away racing in the British GT Championship in 2017.
The Leeds-based driver ended the official media day test at Donington Park with the fourth fastest time, as he put further mileage under his belt in his new Ford Focus RS.
“I’m really pleased with how the day went,” said the 28-year-old. “We didn’t expect to do anything special during the test, we just worked through our plan and went through the programme we had in mind and ended up in P4, which is a solid start and gives us plenty to build on.
“At this time of the season, we just need to try stuff and see what it does so that when we get into a race situation and we need to throw something at the car, we know what effect that has. It’s just about building up as much data as possible.”
After four full seasons in the BTCC between 2013 and 2016, Tordoff departed in 2017 to race full-time in the British GT Championship. However after a winless season – albeit with four second places – he is returning to touring cars in 2018.
“It’s exciting to be back in the BTCC. I got a great reception and a lot of people made a point of welcoming me back, so it was great to jump straight back into it and be competitive.
“I’ve got a great core of people around me in the team with a lot of experience, and it feels like home already which can only be a good thing.
“I’m feeling confident heading into the first round at Brands next week. We’ve got another test on Thursday at Brands ahead of the first round so I think were going to be ready.
“The car is in a sweet-spot at the moment. We’re going into the weekend with high hopes and just looking to score some strong points.
“I think if we can come out of the weekend with three top six performances then that would be a great way to start the season.”
The first BTCC race meeting of the season takes place at Brands Hatch on 7 – 8 April.