Thruxton threw up a frustrating race weekend for Ciceley Motorsport, with Adam Morgan's Mac Tools-backed Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes-Benz sustaining heavy damage and Dan Rowbottom in the sister Cataclean A-Class managing a best of 19th position.
Morgan struggled with the optimum set-up of the car during Free Practice and managed just 18th in qualifying.
Morgan’s found himself deep into crowded midfield pack and he was briefly delayed at the chicane following contact with Laser Tools Racing’s Aiden Moffat. The Lancashireman then found himself in a fierce battle with the BTC Racing Honda Civic Type R of Chris Smiley.
Late race, the Mercedes was out-dragged into the chicane by the Motorbase Ford Focus RS of Ollie Jackson, leaving him 17th. He hauled himself up to 13th in the second encounter but sadly, Morgan's optimism ahead of the finale wouldn't last.
At just the third corner, he was confronted by a car broadside cross the track. Contact resulted in Morgan breaking his right front suspension and he was out on the spot.
Morgan now lies 13th in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship and sixth in the Independents' Trophy.
“The car just didn't feel as I wanted it to at Thruxton," he said. "We tested there and went well, and we have won there in the past, so we know that the car works.
"Others said the same thing, so whether it was the new track surface bedding in and changing we don’t know, but we will analyse everything for tomorrow.
“The circuit seemed less grippy and I really struggled with understeer. We still felt that we were missing something in race two but there was definite progress.
“I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time in the finale, because I was tucked up behind another car and saw Rob (Collard) too late, but I really felt that we could have made good progress in that race.”
The satellite Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes-Benz A-Class of BTCC rookie Dan Rowbottom took 19th in the opening race but was hit by a drive-through penalty in the second race for exceeding track limits.
That dropped him down to 24th but he charged up the order in race three and was on the verge of breaking into the points when contact led to alternator failure which shut off the power steering and gave the Kidderminster ace a wild ride across Thruxton’s grass.
Ciceley Motorsport’s Commercial Director, Norman Burgess said: “Dan’s weekend was another positive one. He found more pace in the car each time out and his three races were really encouraging as he got stuck in and gained places.
"He’s learning well and learning fast and it is great to see him moving up the order. Unfortunately, the results will not reflect Dan’s fantastic efforts this weekend, he had a faster lap than race winner Andrew Jordan in race one.”
