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A View From The Driver's Seat: We came to Brands Hatch with a plan...

By Aiden Moffat / MJP Media | 2 April 2014

Aiden Moffat looks back at the first meeting of the 2014 BTCC season and looks forward to Donington Park.

We came to Brands Hatch for the first round of the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship with a plan to develop the car and to learn more about where we were as a team in comparison to the rest of the paddock - and by and large we achieved what we set out to do!

There was a mixture of emotions in the team on Saturday morning as the car was scrutineered for the first time on a racing weekend and we fired up the engine for Free Practice 1. Our first really meaningful action of the season and then we were off in the big pond with the big fish. Our team support looked fantastic - the trucks, team and hospitality told everyone that we were here to compete at the top level. We were not going to be overawed!

Free Practice 1 gave us a lot of data and more importantly, information on my driving and where I was quick. We soon discovered that the car is pretty strong and by the end of the session, although I was 27th, we were 20th fastest across the start/finish line. We knew there was room for improvement and it was up to us to see what we could do. Free Practice 2 gave us similar results, seeing us running in 26th place overall, but being 17th fastest over the start/finish line. We know we have room to develop.

Qualifying was an experience. Finding track space and keeping out of the way of faster drivers was a real test for me. We qualified in 27th however that might have been better as I had a lap time removed for putting 2 wheels over the kerbing. We will never know, but we were less than 2 seconds a lap off P4!

Sunday dawned dry and clear and we were looking forward to the next stage in the weekends plan. This was to push on in developing the car and our understanding of it, to keep out of trouble and to bring the car home safe and sound. I must thank every one of the thousands of fans at Brands who came over to wish me well and grab an autograph.

Race 1 saw us finishing in P24 from 27th on the grid and we managed to stay out of trouble. We were 19th fastest at the sector 1 speed trap and 15th fastest over the start/finish line. This is a creditable performance for us as we seek to move the car forwards in the early rounds. Race 2 followed a similar pattern with us finishing 24th, some 17 seconds behind the winner. Race 3 had us in 24th again, but this time we were 22nd quickest at the sector 1 speed trap and 9th quickest over the start/finish line ahead of Tom Ingram, Sam Tordoff, Rob Austin, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan!

I feel it was a successful weekend. As the weekend progressed, I learned more about the car and built more confidence and the team as a whole progressed. At this stage, this is very much our aim. We can take a lot of positives out of Brands Hatch and will carry that momentum forward going to Donington Park. I look forward to seeing you all there and would like to thank you all again for your support. It means a lot to me and the team.

Aiden #16

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