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Adam impresses, Harvey on pace in Motorbase test |
Jonathan Adam staked his claim to a British Touring Car Championship seat in 2009 by impressing on a test outing for Motorbase Performance – as former series champion Tim Harvey returned to the fray with a bang.
The recently-crowned SEAT Cupra Cup UK and Porsche Carrera Cup GB title-winners both took to the track at Brands Hatch in one of the Kent-based outfit's BMW 320sis, and Adam's account of himself struck David Bartrum so much that he was asked to return for a second day.
“I was very impressed with Jonathan Adam,” the squad's team boss told
btcc.net. “He did 85 laps no problem and was quickly on the pace. For a 24-year-old he's got a very cool head on his shoulders.
“He interacts very well with the team, is strong with feedback and his approach is very good. You ask him to do certain things and he does them…so well in fact we'll do two more sessions with him.”
Having recently been rewarded for his SEAT title glory – just a year on from his championship success in the Renault Clio Cup – with a run in the Spanish manufacturer's front wheel-drive Leon TDi at Silverstone, Adam emerged in high spirits from his maiden outing in a rear wheel-drive BTCC machine.
“The car was great to drive and I felt I adjusted to it quite quickly,” the Scot remarked. “I became more at one with the car with each run. The Motorbase team instantly made me feel at ease and I also had Tim Harvey helping me, which proved invaluable.
“It has of course been a goal of mine for two or three years to break into the BTCC, and hopefully that will happen in 2009.”
Harvey's run, meanwhile, marked the first time the 1992 BTCC Champion had got behind the wheel of a BMW in anger since he clinched the crown – and his first time in a BTCC car full stop since 2002, when he departed the series at the end of a moderately successful campaign by his standards with Peugeot.
The 46-year-old – who is in charge of the British Racing Drivers' Club's
Superstars programme to help nurture young home-grown talent – was present to help Motorbase to evaluate young drivers with a view to running a third car in the BTCC next season.
Though he has suggested he would not contemplate a return to the leading tin-top series at this juncture, the 16-time race-winner was nevertheless notably quick on his return, despite running on used rubber.
