The Boys Are Back...

The start of the 2012 British Touring Car season roared into action yesterday (19th March) at the annual Media Day event held at Silverstone Circuit.
     With less than two weeks to go until the racing begins at Brands Hatch, drivers and teams took their first official steps into the limelight - starting with an official press conference before testing began at 13:00 around Silverstone's National Circuit.
     The public flocked in at 12:30, all eager to see their favourite teams and drivers on track after a very long winter break.
     One of the changes that was announced was from Motorbase, who are re-branding from Airwaves to Redstone Racing ahead of the season. Fans shouldn't be worried however - the "red devils" still have their distinctive red livery! The team had a good testing session, with drivers Aron Smith and Liam Griffin finishing the day 8th and 10th respectively on the time sheets. Griffin did cause a short red flag delay, after a spin at Copse Corner left him in the gravel trap. Mat Jackson suffered from steering issues in his Ford Focus, forcing him to only complete a handful of laps throughout the day.

Liam Griffin testing yesterday at Silverstone.

   

Mark Hazell, known from the Porsche Carrera Cup and Renault Clios, was also announced as a driver for Rob Austin Racing. The second driver is yet to be confirmed  by the team. The team's Audi A4 was out on track yesterday, with driving responsibilities shared between team boss Austin and 2011 driver Chris Swanick.

     The big talking point of the day came from Triple 8 Racing, who unveiled their 2012 challenger. The team worked tremendously hard to get the car ready for Media Day, however it did not compete in the afternoon test session. Two time BTCC champion Jason Plato said during the press conference, "We're going to be close and up there come the first round of the season."
     After crashing the Vectra at Brands Hatch last Thursday, Team ES Racing also worked hard to get team owner Chris James' car out for the testing session. Their hard work surely paid off, as Dave Newsham - James' team mate for the season - came out on top of the timing sheets at the end of the day, with an astonishing 58.965 second lap time. Chris James said of the team, "We've got to be aiming for podiums and a top six in the championship."

The yellow ES Racing Vectra of Dave Newsham overtaking Lea Woods'
BINZ Racing Vectra at Copse Corner.

The 2011 champions Honda Racing have pulled out all the stops over the winter to produce and build a brand spanking new Honda Civic, built to the new NGTC regulations. Dressed in it's trademark colours of red and white, Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden completed a total of 86 laps between them - putting them in second and third on the time sheets come the end of the day. Neal said about the year ahead, "Reliability will be key to the championship this year." Having come so close to winning the overall championship last year, the Scot said, "I hope that 2012 is the year for me." Shedden was another driver to cause a brief red flag during the session, as a sensor issue forced him to stop the car on the Wellington Straight.

The 2011 Champion Matt Neal putting the NGTC Civic
through it's paces.

Pirtek Racing are looking strong ahead of the start of the season at Brands Hatch. With a Team Dynamics built Honda Civic built to NGTC regulations, Andrew Jordan is in a good position to fight for the overall championship. During the morning press conference, Jordan said "My eyes are on the championship and I want to be the youngest ever champion." Jeff Smith will also remain at Pirtek Racing for another year, also running in a NGTC Civic, with a slightly different livery to his team mate.

Andrew Jordan at Silverstone yesterday

eBay Motors are back on the grid for another consecutive year, with three BMWs. Although the livery remains similar to that of last years, the major changes have been under the hood. Now running with turbo engines, the drivers of Rob Collard, Nick Foster and Tom Onslow-Cole feel that the team will be able to positively progress through the season. Collard said, "It's nice to be able to compete competitively with the other cars and drivers." Tom Onslow-Cole, who was sharing the car yesterday with team mate Nick Foster, said "It's great to be back. We've got a lot of speed in the team." 

The eBay Motors BMW driven by Rob Collard on a lap of
Silverstone's National Circuit.

Tony Gilham will start his second year in the championship racing within his own team - branded RCIB Insurance and HARD. Gilham, who will again sport the trademark pink and green colours on his Honda Civic - previously raced by Honda's Gordon Shedden - will be hoping to make an impression on the track. The Media Day test session at Silverstone would be the Civic's first full test. Gilham found himself 15th on the time sheets having only completing 12 laps due to cooling problems.
     AmD Tuning were also out on track yesterday, with Ollie Jackson at the wheel of the VW Golf for the first official test session of the year. Finishing the day 12th on the time sheets with a 59.949 lap time during his 55 laps of the day, puts the team in a good position for the year ahead.
     John Thorne also took the track in his Vauxhall Insignia, although no times were set as the car did not have a transponder on the car. This was also the case for the Speedworks Motorsport team. Ginetta G55 champion Adam Morgan did make it out on track, but no times were recorded.
     One of the teams and drivers who didn't take part in the session was Frank Wrathall and Dynojet. They unveiled what the car would look like for 2012, but not testing was done in the Toyota Avensis. In the press conference, Wrathall said, "It's always been a long term project and we've got a package that is more than capable of getting results.
    Dan Welch in the Proton attended the Media Day, announcing a new sponser in Sopp&Sopp. No testing was done by the car, however the car and livery was revealed to the waiting photographers.

The testing session drew to a close at 17:00. The fastest times of the day by drivers are shown below:

1. Dave Newsham (ES Racing)  - 58.965
2. Gordon Shedden (Honda Yuasa) - 59.359
3. Matt Neal (Honda Yuasa) - 59.373
4. Rob Collard (eBay Motors) - 59.438
5. Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) - 59.438
6. Rob Austin (Rob Austin Racing) - 59.495
7. Tom Onslow-Cole (eBay Motors) - 59.569
8. Aron Smith (Redstone Racing) - 59.646
9. Chris James (ES Racing) - 59.693
10. Liam Griffin (Redstone Racing) - 59.857
11. Jeff Smith (Pirtek Racing) - 59.874
12. Ollie Jackson (AmD Tuning) - 59.949
13. Lea Wood (BINZ Racing) - 1.00.318
14. Tony Gilham (RCIB Insurance & HARD) - 1.03.573
15. Mat Jackson (Redstone Racing) - 1.08.697

So with the sun setting on Silverstone Circuit, Media Day was complete.

The sun setting over Luffield and the
2012 BTCC Media Day.

The first round of the season starts on the 1st April at Brands Hatch. An exciting year's racing is ahead of us. But who will you be watching when the lights go out?