It was a difficult day of racing for Team Aon around the Slovakiaring yesteray afternoon for drivers James Nash and Tom Chilton. Despite having qualified superbly the previous day Nash had been handed a penalty and was dropped back to fourteenth place for both races while Chilton started race one from eleventh and the second race of the weekend in tenth.

Lining up on the grid ahead of the first race both drivers were preparing to make their way up through the grid. However despite both Chilton and Nash getting a good clean getaway from the rolling start, both drivers found themselves caught up in the opening lap melee. Chilton was the first Team Aon driver to suffer – having been squeezed out and into the gravel he was ultimately beached and left unable to continue.

Within a couple of corners Nash’s bad luck continued as he suffered a similar fate. His Arena run Ford Focus Touring Car was hit heavily from behind which sent him careering into the barriers. Unfortunately for Nash the damage to the car ruled him out of the second race of the weekend.

Race two saw Chilton as the only Team Aon driver on the grid as he started from tenth place and although the Brit driver lost a couple of places during opening lap he quickly began to take his positions back. A brilliantly assured overtaking maneuverer on Tom Boardman secured his tenth place finish and ensured that he took the final points paying place.

Reflecting on the weekend, Mike Earle said ‘It was a frustrating weekend overall. Very good in parts but very disappointing in others. We came here with a completely new suspension set up which we’ve never run and James did an outstanding job to qualify fourth only to have his times removed due to a minor technical infringement. The races didn’t go in our favour either having both cars out on the first lap on the first race. It was also extremely disappointing for James because he had done a fabulous job all weekend and was unable to compete in the second race.

“Tom failed to get any running during the first free practice session and had a shortened free practice two so the first time he was out in the car properly was during qualifying. In the second race Tom got pushed down to 14 but made his way up to tenth and was lapping in same time as the leaders once he had passed the cars ahead of him. Overall it was a weekend of what might have been for the team but we feel we’re making progress with the car.’