Team Aon is looking to record the team’s first win of the season at Donington Park next week, in the second round of the 2011 Dunlop British Touring Car Championship. The team’s drivers Tom Chilton and Andy Neate will be aiming to improve on their form from last weekend’s race at Brands Hatch, which was the first ever race for their new Ford Focus. Last weekend’s race at Brands Hatch was full of potential for Team Aon, with Chilton finishing the final practice session of the weekend second fastest. The Independent Drivers’ Champion looked ready to replicate that pace in qualifying until a scrutineering test half way through the session deemed Chilton’s Focus not to be in compliance with the regulation ride height. A last minute dash to rectify the problem and get back out on track meant Chilton wasn’t able to show his true potential, while the team also had to deal with the finer details of the new car’s characteristics. Now with one full race weekend’s experience in the new Global Ford Focus Touring Car behind them, the team are aiming high for round two at Donington. The 1.9 mile circuit, located close to Derby, provided strong results for Team Aon last year when Chilton took pole position, the fastest lap and a podium finish in the first race of the weekend. The team also won in race two – so have already tasted success at Donington Park. Talking ahead of the weekend, Chilton said, “Donington is a very fast a flowing circuit, it’s very satisfying for a driver. I think it’s going to provide some very close racing, so I’m looking forward to it. We did some running at Donington in pre-season testing which I think will help us this weekend, but its still such a new car that we’re still learning more about it with every session. We have much more experience and knowledge of the car now though, so I think we should be on the pace from the start next weekend.”Team mate Andy Neate was disappointed not to pick up any points at Brands Hatch last weekend, after qualifying tenth in his first weekend with Team Aon, “Brands Hatch was a disappointing weekend for us as we had quite high expectations ahead of the start of the season. Unfortunately by the time we got to the bottom of our set-up issues in race three I didn’t have chance to show our progress as I was spun round on lap one by Alex MacDowell. We know a lot more about the car now and I think we’ll be in much better shape from the outset at Donington next week. We should be aiming for no less than a 1 - 2 finish in at least one of the three races on Sunday.”Team Principal Mike Earle is keen for the team to be able show its true potential at Donington, with a more consistent performance at the Derbyshire circuit. “We were definitely caught out by a few new car problems at Brands Hatch, which was due to a lack of testing.. We’ve identified what those problems were now and considering that, both drivers did a sensational job to get the results they did last weekend. With the knowledge we have now, we’re expecting much more at Donington next weekend.” The second round of the 2011 BTCC season will take place from 16 – 17 April.
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