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VX Racing has kept up the pressure on their rivals after the final qualifying session of the the 2009 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship. Fabrizio Giovanardi, lying second in the Drivers’ Championship, outperformed his main championship title rival, Colin Turkington, taking third place on the grid, six places ahead of Turkington. With team mates Matt Neal and Andy Jordan lining up behind Giovanardi in fourth and fifth places, VX Racing has taken up the fight and ensured an exciting battle in the first of tomorrow’s three races.
The practice sessions prior to qualifying were the only opportunity for the VX Racing drivers to reacquaint themselves with the Brands Hatch GP circuit ahead of the afternoon qualifying session. Giovanardi had not raced on this configuration of the track for nearly 20 years, but this was the least of his problems. The first practice session started smoothly, but in the second of the two, a trip into the gravel for the title contender after only one flying lap sidelined him for the remainder of the session.
Neal’s weekend started well, with the Droitwich VX Racing driver heading the time sheets in the first session. However, the Triple Eight crew had their work cut out when a suspected engine failure towards the end of the session gave the team precious little time to replace it before the second practice session. Their quick work ensured Neal was out for this second period but Neal was only 14th quickest by the end of the 40 minutes session as he continued to battle engine problems. Jordan had two productive sessions, working through his programme of preparation for qualifying and the three races tomorrow. Finishing 7th fastest in the first and 6th in the second session, it was a solid start to the weekend for the VX Racing youngster.
The qualifying session started with strong runs from Giovanardi and Jordan, while Neal was delayed with ongoing engine issues which kept him in the garage for the first half of the session. Giovanardi was third quickest after his first run, while Jordan was lying 10th. Over the course of the thirty minutes of qualifying time allowed, Giovanardi improved his lap times, but was unable to improve his overall position, finishing just 0.024 seconds behind polesitter, Tom Chilton and only 0.03 seconds behind Jason Plato. Neal proved he had lost none of his fighting spirit, posting 4th quickest lap time, despite having only 13 minutes of track time available to him. Jordan improved on his earlier lap times to finish fifth fastest by the end of the session, closely following his two team mates and locking out the 3rd to 5th positions.
Giovanardi said of his day, “It’s definitely been a great start to the weekend for us. I still think I could have gone quicker, it wasn’t perfect, as I’m still not too familiar with the Grand Prix configuration, especially not having many laps in the morning. There were a couple of places I think I could have made up time, but to be ahead of Turkington, by quite a few places, is where we need to be. I have Matt and Andy right behind me as well, so that will be helpful too.”
Neal summed up his day, explaining, “We started on a high, but then it went downhill with engine problems. We changed it but still had problems and these were still being worked on when the qualifying session started. Thankfully the boys were able to sort it and get me out for the back half of qualifying and then the pressure was on to get a decent lap in. I’m really pleased we managed to do that – and relieved. Tomorrow, I’ll be looking to help Fabrizio as well as securing the teams’ title for Vauxhall. It’s game on now!”
Jordan was pleased with his efforts, “It’s been a good day for us. We started strong and carried that through into qualifying. I think we could have gone a little bit quicker as well, but to be just behind my BTCC veteran team mates is a good, solid result from today. I love the circuit as well, it’s very old-school and is great to experience in this car. I hope we can continue our momentum through tomorrow and bring some strong results for myself and VX Racing.”
The 2009 British Touring Car Championship wraps up tomorrow with the final three races of the season. Giovanardi, just 13 points behind championship leader Turkington, is battling for his third back-to-back BTCC title.
