Tom Chilton has praised the Team Halfords squad following his strong performance in the sixth round of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season at
Snetterton.
Chilton headed to Snetterton having only scored points in two of the previous six races but was able to enjoy his first podium finish since the second round of the year at Rockingham as the Team Halfords Honda took the fight to the diesel SEAT Leons of
Jason Plato and Darren Turner.
The opening race saw Chilton storm through from the third row of the grid to move into third place behind Jason Plato and Darren Turner and it was a position he held until the finish despite doing his best to battle ahead of the diesel cars.
Chilton did manage to get ahead of Turner on the opening lap of the second race but slight contact with the Leon TDi left him with a slow puncture that forced him into an unscheduled pit-stop and a 15th place finish.
From 15th on the grid for the final race, Chilton managed to take more points with seventh place and he admitted afterwards the credit was due to the Team Dynamics-run squad for the work carried out to improve the car during the summer break.
"We've shaken up the Vauxhalls this weekend but we should never have touched the SEATs with all the power they have on the straights,” he said. “I should have been third and second in the first two races, but I had a puncture in race two following minor rubbing with Turner as I was passing him. It gave me a slow puncture and I had to hang on before pitting. In race three I got up to seventh from 15th and it shows how good the car is getting.
"To be fair we've had our fair share of bad luck this season we have a great car and in my opinion, the team work harder than any other on the grid during the summer break - and it shows. I'm looking forward to a really strong performance at
Oulton Park in two weeks."
