The British Touring Car Championship returns to Brands Hatch this weekend for the seventh round of the series. It’s Tom Chilton’s local track and he’s hoping for three strong results to boost his position in the standings and impress the on-looking VIPs.
A touch of show-biz razzmatazz will be added by the appearance of top 10 pop group VS, who are guests of Tom’s this weekend. The female members of the band will act as Tom’s grid girls for the three races, which will no doubt boost his popularity with the younger fans and hopefully they won’t distract Tom from the business in hand on the race track!
He knows his works Honda Civic Type R should be well suited to the challenge of the short Brands Indy layout. Earlier in this season he produced a stunning drive at Brands to secure his first podium of the year, passing former champion James Thompson for third in the final corner. Brands also brought Tom his first-ever BTCC top three finish when he was just 17, so it’s clearly a track he enjoys racing on.
"I’ve always been good round there," he said. "And this time I know I’ve got a car that’s good enough to win. I think that along with the MG, we now have the fastest car out there, so I’m really fired up to go there and come back with a good result. I think I’ve done the hardest week’s training I’ve ever done ahead of this because I know it could be really good for us."
The last round at Knockhill showed the potential of the Civic, which has had its performance boosted by a series of developments mid-season. However, despite taking another podium place in the first of the three races, Tom was the victim of some typically robust BTCC driving tactics, which meant he was unable to capitalise on his undoubted pace in the second and third races. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but it has made Tom even more determined to succeed this weekend.
"It was a long way to go to get messed about," he said of the collisions which effectively ruined his chances. "But that’s in the past now, I just have to go to Brands and get the best result possible. I honestly think I can get two podiums."
The revised race format for 2004 means the winner of race one starts 10th in race two with full success ballast, while the 10th place finisher in race one takes the race two pole with no additional weight. It has led to some drivers deliberately trying to drop down the order in the first race to maximise their race two starting position. Tom has dismissed the possibility of employing that tactic this weekend.
"I don’t like those tactics. If I’m in a race I’m going to do as well as I can. A lot of people say their going to race for 10th, but they never do. The problem with the system is that if you win race one, you’re going to struggle in race two, and that one’s live on TV. I think they should just reverse the top six and not have any ballast."
You can follow Tom’s exploits live on TV this weekend. ITV is showing races two and three live on its Speed Sunday programme, while Sky Digital subscribers can watch all three races as they happen on the Motors TV channel.
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