Fine tuning sees VX Racing’s prospects soar

Thruxton will see the renaissance of VX Racing’s 2006 BTCC campaign after intensive work over the last three weeks got to the core of the drivers’ issues with the car.

The championship-winning Astra Sport Hatch, which was given a new, more powerful engine for the 2006 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season, has so far won one pole position and four podiums - but the team knows it is capable of more.

"We’ve definitely turned the corner," said Team Principal Ian Harrison, who believes adjusting the suspension has given the drivers confidence in the car’s handling. "We now understand better what the drivers want. At the last round we gave them what they wanted and they did a good job on race day. I’m hoping we can carry that on and go one step further at Thruxton."

VXR driver, Tom Chilton, says Thruxton is one of his favourite circuits. "It’s the fastest track we visit," said the 21-year-old racing prodigy. "It’s only got two braking points and most of the time you’re sideways, which is great fun."

Chilton has already proved the Astra Sport Hatch is evenly matched with its main on- track rival, the SEAT Leon - which currently leads the team and manufacturer championships – battling with Jason Plato and James Thompson for the entire 17 laps of the most recent round.

"The whole team is quite confident after that," said Chilton, from Reigate. "That last race showed us the car’s a lot more competitive – it’s stronger than it has been.

"We’ve got a tiny bit to do on the suspension and then, other than the weight, I think the Astra is just as good, or even better than the SEAT.

"Our car this year is a lot quicker than last year - in qualifying at Brands Hatch I was more than half a second quicker than Yvan Muller’s time last year. The engine’s a lot better and I think we’ve got a lot of stuff sorted out since the start of the season. Now it’s just fine tuning."

Chilton is currently in fifth place, 19 points behind of fourth-place Colin Turkington, with a maximum 378 points still available in the championship. "I want to get within 12 points of the three leading drivers – that’s my aim for this weekend," said Chilton. "The championship is very close at the moment. It would only take Plato having one bad race for things to close right up."

Team-mates Gavin Smith and Fabrizio Giovanardi are in eighth and ninth places respectively. Last year Smith, from Dublin, scored two top 10 finishes in only his fourth and fifth races in a touring car.

Qualifying at Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire, starts at 15.10 this Saturday, with the first race at 11.00 on Sunday.