Goff Delivers Again On Day Two

WIX Racing with Eurotech star Jack Goff set the pace on the final Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship test day at Snetterton, having also starred throughout Wednesday’s running.

Goff’s benchmark was set relatively early on Thursday morning and would remain unchallenged on another day where myriad of set-ups, tyre choices and weights were utilised up and down the pitlane.

Josh Cook was second quickest in the Power Maxed TAG Racing Vauxhall Astra, whilst Jake Hill produced a fantastic maiden test in the AmD MG to take third.

Colin Turkington – Team BMW driver and current championship leader – was fastest in the afternoon segment but the slower session left him fourth overall.

Halfords Yuasa Racing rookie Dan Cammish topped the first day at the Norfolk track and the Yorkshireman again ran well during a final flurry on Thursday afternoon.

The action around the 2.99-mile circuit saw some of the longest runs in recent BTCC history as drivers and teams also prepare for the extended ‘Diamond Double’ race here later this month.

The celebratory contest will be double the distance and double the points of a normal BTCC contest, so data gathering has been key.

Aside from the usual suspects there were also several BTCC newcomers and returnees who took part in the day’s running at Snetterton.VW Racing Cup and VAG trophy racer Kenan Dole sampled the AmDTuning.com MG, and he was joined by Renault UK Clio Cup battler and former BTCC driver Mike Epps.

Team Hard ran 2017 British GT4 man Adam Hatfield along with its Ginetta GT4 Supercup race winner Carl Boardley. Dan Welch also tried the car, along with Jamie Bond, who is third in the VW Racing Cup this term.

In total across the two days, 33 drivers completed more that 2740 almost trouble-free laps and more than 8000 miles of the Snetterton 300 circuit.

The full grid will return in anger for Rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship on 28/29 July.

Jack Goff said: “Coming from Croft it wasn’t going to be much worse! Joking aside, as soon as the car was on track here at Snetterton, we were straight back to where we’ve been for the last year really – up at the sharp end.

“Today was largely about long runs to be honest and not about our one-lap pace, but it’s always nice to be quickest.

“Our race pace seems good – we did a couple of the longer distance runs and we were a chunk up by mid-distance, but then some of the others seemed to come back towards us late on. I’m sure it evens itself out but we’re there or thereabouts.

“Croft was just weird, we were 26^th, 27^th or 28^th I think, and now we’re back to being one of the fastest. It’s just nice for everyone in the team as we were all a bit down and now we’re in a good frame of mind ahead of the race weekend.”

Josh Cook said: “We ran old tyres on the first day mainly to see if things worked or not.

“We put new tyres on the car this morning and we were able to have a bit of a go at it, but there’s still pace in the car and we weren’t running like a qualifying session.

“It’s just about learing more about the car again and it has been a pretty productive couple of days.

“You have such limited time on a race weekend that if things don’t work out you tend to switch back to what you know, but with this amount of time you can really explore different avenues. You never waste a test but it’s often about learning what doesn’t work, as much as it is finding the things that do.

“We did a bit of groundwork ahead of the ‘Diamond Double’ race but our car has always been pretty good to its tyres. Everyone seems focussed on the longer final race, because of the double points, but we’re approaching it like every other weekend."

Jake Hill said: “Over the moon with Sean Hollamby and AmD for letting me take part in the test. The team were very professional and it was an absolute pleasure working with Rory Butcher as a team-mate.

“I really enjoyed driving the car and it was a massive step forward to what I’ve been driving – it was nice to just feel happy again.

“I felt positive with the car and the team straight away. I clicked with the car immediately, we made some changes and I found a big chunk of time. I was actually two tenths up on the next lap but nearly rolled the car by taking too much of the sausage kerbs!

“Overall, I loved it. It’s great to just focus on my job when I’m behind the wheel without the stresses and issues that we’re having off of it. I feel like I’ve delivered and hopefully we can work something out with Sean and AmD for the rest of the year.”

THURSDAY FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS - COMBINED CLASSIFICATION

12th July 2018