MG drivers Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff are hoping for an aero update and new dampers to pay off at Donington Park this weekend as the British Touring Car Championship heads to its second venue of the year.
Plato is just nine points adrift of the championship lead in fifth and is expecting a bigger reward from the team’s new components this weekend.
“Everyone is motivated after Brands,” said Plato. “The team is confident coming into this weekend and the new aero package and dampers will come into effect more here; the faster circuits like Donington and Thruxton should see us get better and better. The championship is looking great this year and I’m looking forward to another competitive weekend.”
The MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save team arrive at the East Midlands circuit expecting a more strung out field, thanks to the slightly longer National circuit layout, which is around 1.2 km longer than the opening round’s Brands Hatch Indy layout.
“Donington is a very different circuit to Brands and it should suit our car a lot better; we’re heading there with some optimism,” explained Tordoff, who is eighth in the championship after taking three points finishes in the opening meeting. “I think the field will be spaced out a lot more, but with the field that we have in the series this year, there won’t be any easy weekends.
“I want to be at the front and regularly on the podium, so Donington is important for us,” added the 24-year-old. “We need to bag some solid points this weekend to get back in the fight for the championship and take the challenge to the BMWs and Hondas.”
Triple Eight Team Principal Ian Harrison praised the Donington circuit layout with its faster, sweeping corners. Harrsion is hopeful of podium finishes – despite the circuit having been one of the team’s weakest over the past two seasons with NGTC machinery.
“Donington is a proper circuit and one that we believe will show the true performance of the 2014 contenders, after the slow and medium speed corners of the Brands Hatch Indy circuit,” said Harrison.
“You’ve got corners here which are arguably some of the best in motorsport. We want to be at the sharp end of the grid in qualifying and hopefully challenging for podiums in the races. It would be great to head to Thruxton off the back of a positive weekend for both drivers.”