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.
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