Dan Zelos enjoys ‘absolutely unbelievable’ BTCC début at Donington Park

Dan Zelos enjoyed an ‘unbelievable’ maiden weekend in the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park, as the EXCELR8 Motorsport driver scored a trio of points finishes.

Barely a week had passed after clinching his third championship title in the MINI Challenge before Zelos was called up by EXCELR8 to stand in for Ronan Pearson and make his début in the BTCC.

Battling changeable conditions on Saturday, Zelos qualified his Hyundai in 16^th, benefitting from the fact that his qualifying group had slightly more favourable conditions than the earlier Q1 contingent.

Despite losing out at the start of race one, having had little opportunity for practicing starts in the Hyundai, Zelos battled back and took the chequered flag in 12^th, four places up from his starting position.

Having again fallen back in race two, as low as 17^th in some fierce mid-pack battles, Zelos fought through to take more championship points in 13^th by the end of the race.

In a feisty final race of the weekend, the 26-year-old scored his best result yet, fighting to 11^th and leaving the Leicestershire circuit as the second-highest scorer of the EXCELR8 Motorsport quartet.

“What an unforgettable weekend, and such a massively proud moment for me and my family,” said Zelos. “The past week has been absolutely mental – a real whirlwind, and it has all felt a bit surreal, to be honest.

“I was really gutted for Ronan – he’s a former team-mate and a friend – but on a personal level, I can’t thank Team Bristol Street Motors and EXCELR8 Motorsport enough for allowing me to live my dream and show what I can do.

“EXCELR8 has been my racing family for a long time now, and I wouldn’t have wanted my BTCC début to be with anybody else.

“We’ve been working towards this for so long, and I felt like I’d been ready for it for a while. I would obviously have liked a little more pre-event preparation, but the goal was to try to stay out of trouble and prove to everybody that I deserve to be here and stay here.

“Results-wise, I had no real expectations. Competing in the MINI CHALLENGE was the perfect stepping-stone, but the other drivers have all been in the BTCC a lot longer than me and it was always going to be a massive learning curve.

“The least I owed Team Bristol Street Motors for the faith they had placed in me was to repay them by bringing the car back in one piece, so that was my main objective.

“I tried to be like a sponge during practice by absorbing as much information as I could. The Hyundai has lots of buttons, lights and sensors that I don’t have in my MINI.

“Then you have to factor in the radio communication and hybrid – which makes the car feel completely different – not to mention thinking about how you need to approach the next corner! There’s generally just a lot more to deal with.

“I felt quite settled quite quickly, but the bigger challenge was to find out how far I could push the i30N to its limits. I spent Saturday building up slowly, and while getting used to the car and the set-up in those conditions wasn’t easy, we gradually found our way.

“FP1 was my first wet session in a BTCC car, but we weren’t a million miles off the pace. The circuit was pretty sketchy on slick tyres in qualifying; I was hoping the rain would continue as I would have felt so much more comfortable on a wet track after practice, but the team was calm and collected throughout and did a great job in helping me to keep my nerves under control.

“The focus for the first race was simply to keep my nose clean and enjoy the moment. There was a lot going on and I couldn’t believe how well it went – I honestly didn’t expect to score points so soon, but I got my head down, learnt quickly and we went forward! I was over-the-moon to finish 12th, and my shoulders felt a bit lighter after that…

“We got another solid result in race two following some great battles, and I knew everybody would have their elbows out in race three, so to come away with a full set of points-scoring results was just incredible.

“The Hyundai was phenomenal all weekend, and I really feel like I showed everybody that with a bit more time in the car, I can do some great things.

“Overall, it was an absolutely unbelievable experience – something my family and I have been working towards for most of my life, and I loved every single moment.

“My dream has become a reality and it wouldn’t have been possible without my parents, my loyal partners, Team Bristol Street Motors and EXCELR8 Motorsport.”

Zelos admitted that it may be his only outing in the car for the time being, with EXCELR8 continuing to speak to potential drivers for the final two rounds of the season.

“It’s the fairytale ending and for now, this is it, but I definitely want to be back and I’m hungrier than ever. Let’s see what happens next…”