Tony Gilham will race Thorney Motorsport’s NGTC-spec Vauxhall Insignia at this weekend’s round of the British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton, as Thorney make a return to the series and Gilham vacates his usual seat to make way for American Robb Holland.
Thorney have not been seen since the Thruxton round in April after electing to skip the Oulton Park and Croft rounds to further develop their new Insignia. Gilham will take over the seat from team owner John Thorne, as the team set their sights on rising further up the grid after a difficult debut in the British series.
Thorne explained that by bringing in Gilham, who has experienced both front and rear-wheel drive machinery in the BTCC, the team were looking to make gains on the front-runners in the field.
“Thorney Motorsport welcomes Tony’s experience as a front-wheel driver in order to help develop the car and help with car set-up and data with a view to getting the car on the front running pace by the end of the season,” explained Thorne.
Gilham himself is hoping to benefit from the experience of running in a full NGTC-sepc car as his team look to expand to a two car line-up in the future running NGTC machinery.
I find this very strange…why would you drive some of your rivals cars?