Tom Chilton had a frustrating time at Thruxton this weekend as he kicked off his 2004 British Touring Car Championship season with a pair of 10th place finishes.

He made what he felt was probably his best ever start in the first of the three races, and from fifth on the grid the Arena Motorsport Honda Civic Type R was pushing for a top three position on the opening lap when he made a small mistake, which dropped him back. A down-on-power engine made overtaking tough, but Tom battled hard to earn 10th place and pole position for race two.

Unfortunately, Tom couldn’t convert his first ever front row start into a strong result after he struggled to get off the line. This left him marooned in the midfield dogfight, and as he fought to make up places he damaged his front right suspension, which forced him to retire.

A similar problem at the start blighted his third race, but again he showed battling qualities to bring the car home in 10th. It was not the start to the season he had been hoping for, but the speed he demonstrated in qualifying should mean he’s in good shape when the series visits Brands Hatch in two weeks’ time.

“I’ll try to make up for this by bagging a couple of podiums at Brands,” he said. “The weekend has just not gone the way I thought it would, but you just have to accept these things and do better next time.”

The second round of the BTCC takes place on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on April 25.

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