Ahead of the 2023 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season opener, which gets underway at Donington Park (22/23 April), teams have been maximising their testing time across the country as they look to gather as much data and experience as possible prior to the campaign.
Following an intense day’s testing with new team-mate Dan Lloyd, the official BTCC website caught up with Team HARD. Racing’s Bobby Thompson to discuss the squad’s main points of focus in testing, as well as his hopes and aims ahead of the upcoming campaign.
“We had a fantastic day down at the Catesby Tunnel, trialling some new cooling packages and some new aero features on the car to see how that affects the package we had last year.
“The CUPRA has now had two years of development and is going into its third season, so the baseline is established. The focus is now all about how we tweak that to go into 2023 with an even stronger package underneath us.
“Lots learnt, lots tried, lots tested. Hopefully, that will bring us into that top-five battle throughout the year. We are really looking at getting the car a lot cooler, as we now have the hybrid to factor in. It’s been an interesting day but an enjoyable one as well.”
Thompson returned to the BTCC in 2022, after a year away from Britain’s premier motorsport series. He quickly established his confidence in the Cupra Leon, with consistent performances and a maiden podium securing him the Jack Sears Trophy. Now, the 26-year-old looks forward to bagging that elusive first victory...
“In terms of my personal goals for this year, obviously I have to get that race win – that is completely what I am going for. We got the Jack Sears last year and there was a couple of times we were so close to getting that first race win, but for one reason or another they didn’t happen.
“For me, my personal goal is to get the first win out of the way and then rack up more podiums. Also, I want to be going into the last round of the season in the top seven of the championship.”
The 2023 campaign gets underway in less than a month’s time, with Donington Park hosting the opening rounds on 22/23 April, while Brands Hatch’s Season Launch will see the full grid revealed on 12 April.
