Bidford-based British Touring Car Championship team Power Maxed Racing looking to improve in qualifying

TEAM principal Adam Weaver is confident Power Maxed Racing will be “banging on the doors” of the British Touring Car Championship title if they manage to “get the cars nailed for qualifying”.

The third round of the BTCC was held on the Indy circuit at Brands Hatch and Bidford-based PMR were looking to improve after set-up problems hampered performance at the previous round at Snetterton.

Although a power steering issue denied Jason Plato a strong position in qualifying, the two-time champion and team-mate Dan Lloyd managed to pick up some decent points across the three races and Weaver is feeling positive about the season ahead.

“Obviously it’s frustrating that we didn’t come away with more silverware, but the team worked really hard to make changes to the cars that have taken us in the right direction, and I think that showed during the racing on Sunday,” he said.

“I’m feeling positive about the year, as we’re only a third of the way in, and I think that if we can get the cars nailed for qualifying we’ll be banging on the door of the title, as we near our next visit to Brands Hatch at the end of the year.”

For Saturday’s 30-minute qualifying session, all 29 cars would venture onto the relatively short Indy circuit in an attempt to secure that all-important pole for the first race of the weekend.

Luck would not be on PMR’s side though, as Plato’s power steering issue resulted in him qualifying 17th while Lloyd found himself a little further up the grid in 12th.

Race one started well, with Lloyd making up ground early in the session, before a multi-lap battle with the Cupra of Jack Goff saw him drop back slightly, meaning he narrowly missed out on a top ten place, finishing the race 11th.

Slightly further back, Plato bagged 13th and a handful of points, as well as a better spot on the grid for race two.

The second race of the day would see both drivers race fast and strong, with both making up a considerable amount of ground, with the pair eventually claiming spots in the top ten.

Lloyd came home in sixth and Plato in eighth, leaving them perfectly placed in the reverse grid draw window of sixth to 12th.

Lady luck was once again not on PMR’s side, with the reverse grid draw yielding nothing but a quick shuffle of positions. This meant Plato would start the third and final race in fifth and team-mate Lloyd in seventh, with 21kg and 33kg of success ballast respectively.

Both would drive well though, with Plato spending most of his race battling the rear-wheel-drive Infiniti of Aiden Moffat, after a double tap during the opening stages from the Scottish racer left him with an off-centre steering wheel.

In the end, Plato would have to settle for fourth, missing out on his second podium of the year by just 0.012s. Lloyd would also drive a great race, holding off the advances of the Civic of former PMR driver Senna Proctor to hold on to seventh, bagging a strong points haul in the process.

The fourth round of the BTCC takes place at Oulton Park on 31st July and 1st August.