Photo: BTCC Media

Chilton wants to win at Thruxton

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Tom Chilton says winning at Thruxton this Sunday (6 May) would mean more to him than at any other circuit as well as helping to strengthen his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car title challenge. Vauxhall star Chilton has had the best start to a BTCC season since he entered the championship in 2002 and currently lies third in the standings.

But while team-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi has now won four times for Vauxhall – including twice last time out at Rockingham – Chilton, in his second year with the British manufacturer, is still to achieve a victory in one of its cars.

The 22-year-old, with six BTCC wins to his name, said: “I’m not putting pressure on myself because Fabrizio’s had wins as my team-mate. I don’t need to prove myself or get a win.

“I need to make sure I’m up there on the podium – that’s the main thing for me, and keeping Vauxhall ahead of SEAT in the Manufacturers’ and Teams’ championships.

“But I do want to win at Thruxton, probably more than anywhere else because I love driving the circuit and have always been fast there, but the win has always eluded me. Something’s always gone wrong or happened in the races.

“A win would of course also go a long way to keeping me right in there with (Jason) Plato and Fabrizio at the top of the table.”

Chilton is confident he can deliver, too, with an improved driving style, plus a breakthrough in car set-up that should find him extra pace in qualifying and over a race distance.

He added: “The reason I wasn’t quite on Fabrizio’s pace at Rockingham, even when his car had more ballast, is because he was running a new set-up the team had worked on in a test at Pembrey, while I stuck with our Brands Hatch set-up.

“I’m not frustrated that he got it and I didn’t because we didn’t know which would be best. Now we do and we’ll both have it at Thruxton, although we do run a different tyre there so we may need to make a few adjustments.

“I’ve changed my driving style a bit. I’m now cleverer and more aggressive than in the past few season and people are going to see a different side to me.”