Dunlop MSA British Touring Car newcomer, Pirtek Racing has made its track debut this week as the team completed several days of running in their new Vauxhall Vectra with TOCA’s turbocharged Next Generation engine. The Tamworth based outfit undertook a busy week of development work which included tests at both the Snetterton Circuit on Tuesday and the Rockingham Circuit today as driver Andrew Jordan (20) put the new package through its paces.
Andrew, who has been eagerly anticipating returning to the track after a long winter break, was not however the first driver to get his hands on his Pirtek liveried BTCC car. Pirtek Racing Team Principal and Andrew’s father, Mike Jordan was behind the wheel of the Vectra doing straight line work at a shakedown test session on Monday. The retired BTCC racer used his experience to work on intricate engine mapping with suppliers Swindon Engines, before the car could commence full preseason testing.
The following day, despite the British weather’s best efforts to dampen progress, Pirtek Racing made their long awaited circuit debut at an icy Snetterton in Norfolk. Andrew returned to the familiar surroundings of the Vectra but had a new powerplant to gain knowledge of as the first of the BTCC’s NGTC engines took to the track.
The outing at Snetterton was followed by a full day of running at Rockingham in Corby today where the team completed test work on a wet circuit. The team used the drizzly conditions to their advantage and worked on a full wet weather setup.
Andrew, who is pleased with the team’s progress this week, commented, “It was great to finally get the car out on track, when you’ve not been in the car all winter you begin to get a bit fidgety, so I was raring to go on Tuesday morning! Unfortunately the weather hampered our development slightly, but we have made a good start.
“We have been building up speed and started to push the car on longer distances throughout the week. The engine adds a bit more weight over the front axle so we were working on reducing tyre wear on the front wheels over a long run and just getting the most out of the car. You can really feel the torque of the engine, especially out of the slow corners, so at tracks like Knockhill it should work really well.
“We are all very focused on getting the best out of the package and the team is working very closely with the engine manufacturers, Swindon Engines, who have been with us all week tracking our progress. Both sides are happy with how things are going but we are under no illusions how much more work there is to do with only six weeks to go until the first race at Thruxton.”
The Pirtek Racing team will be back on track next week with a busy schedule of test dates scheduled before the series first official test day at the Brands Hatch Circuit on the 23rd March.
