Chilton & Vauxhall target centuries at Mondello Park
Tom Chilton will make it 100 races in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Ireland's Mondello Park circuit this Sunday (23 April) and could celebrate in style if, in the same race, he also guides his Vauxhall team to a century of victories in the series.
Chilton's 100th BTCC race will come in the third of Mondello's rounds - incredible considering he only turned 21 in March.
The Reigate driver's 2006 campaign has begun strongly, with a pole position, race lap record and two podiums at the wheel of his Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch in Brands Hatch's opening rounds. He currently lies third in the standings, eight points off leader James Thompson in his SEAT Leon.
Right behind Chilton, fourth overall, is Thompson's team-mate Jason Plato. And it is the SEAT that Chilton believes stands in his and Vauxhall's way of a major celebration at Mondello. Vauxhall currently has 99 wins in the championship.
Chilton said: "To give Vauxhall its 100th BTCC race win in my 100th BTCC race would be a bit of a fairytale, but let's be realistic: SEAT has got two quick drivers in two quick cars and the Leon is lighter than my Astra. At a place like Mondello that will count for a lot because there are a lot of stop-start sections around the lap.
"The Astra won all three races at Mondello last year, but that's no guarantee of success. A lot has changed underneath the skin of the car, technically, so we don't yet know if what has been changed still works there. At a more open circuit, then we'd have a better chance, but at Mondello our extra weight really kills the tyres and brakes.
"But I've always been one of the quickest around Mondello and, hopefully, the set-up I've got in mind for the car will work. I'm going to drive like stink and see what happens.
"My aim at the moment is to come away with two podium finishes from each meeting and stay in touch with the leaders in the championship. To be third after Brands is actually worse than I thought I'd be, but it's still good to be in the top three and up there fighting."
Chilton's BTCC career, unbelievably, started when he'd just turned 17 in April 2002. Even more remarkably, in a race of attrition at Brands Hatch, he finished on the podium in a privately-entered Vauxhall Astra Coupé. Aged just 18, he then raced for Honda's official squad in 2003 and continued to drive its Civic Type R model for the next two seasons when it continued to be developed by independent team Arena Motorsports.
In 2004, Chilton became the BTCC's youngest ever race winner when he took victory at Silverstone aged just 19 years, one month and 24 days. He's since taken five more wins, including back-to-back triumphs last season at Snetterton. It is the second of these two races, he says, that stands out as his most satisfying BTCC moment so far.
Chilton recalled: "The first win at Snetterton meant my car had maximum success ballast for race two but I still got the start and, although there was a lot of heat from behind, nobody came past. That was very rewarding.
"My worst moment? Brands Hatch in 2003 when I crashed and rolled in qualifying and couldn't do any of the races. The car was trash. And there was Oulton Park at the end of the year when I was very poorly. I was feeling so dizzy in the car and crashed in race one. I had blood coming from my tonsils - it was very unpleasant. After the crash, Alan Gow (BTCC Series Director) told me to stand on one leg and hold my nose. I couldn't and he said if I came out of a nightclub like that I wouldn't be allowed to drive home, let alone race a touring car. So I wasn't allowed to start race two..."
Chilton and the rest of the BTCC field will be in race action three times at Mondello this coming Sunday. In addition, there will be another four races from prestige manufacturers BMW and Porsche, with their hotly-contested Formula BMW UK and Porsche Carrera Cup GB championships, plus the latest rounds of Ireland's very own Formula Sheane and Dunlop Supercars series.
Tom Chilton could give Vauxhall its 100th BTCC race win in what will be his 100th BTCC race at Mondello Park this Sunday.
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