Photo: PSP Images

Pinkney: Right place, right time

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David Pinkney believes he was in the right place at the right time to capitalise on Vauxhall’s withdrawal from the BTCC last Autumn. The BTCC stalwart returns to his own Pinkney Motorsport team this season, with an ex-works Vauxhall Vectra and the benefit of several Triple 8 team members for support, and he’s looking forward to the experience.

“I’m pleased to be back with my own team and we are lucky that Vauxhall’s decision to pull out last year has allowed us to take on some of the guys who worked with Triple Eight last year and who know the car,” said the 57-year-old.

“We were in the right place at the right time and are lucky that we can also call on a good pool of guys to help run the car this season.”

Eleven years on from winning the 1999 Vectra SRI V6 Challenge Pinkney is once again behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Vectra at the BTCC Media Day, this time one powered by the Next Generation Touring Car engine.

While praising the car, Pinkney’s comments on the power supplied by the turbocharged engine hint at the potential conflicts in the 2010 BTCC with a number of different engine types running together.

“The Vectra is a fantastic chassis – one of the best out there. It’s a brilliant piece of kit and through the corners in particular, it’s an awesome car.

“We’ve been running similar laps to Andy (Jordan) all day and were within a tenth of a second of each other on the times, but there is a bit of a gap to the front-runners, so we seem to be a bit under-powered at the moment.“

The Harpenden driver completed 30 laps of Brands Hatch in the morning session and a further 36 after lunch, with a best time of 49.392secs during the first session making him tenth quickest before the break.

Having completed running at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park previously this month, Media Day provided a further chance to adapt to the new machine and engine.

“It’s been a constructive day for us, continuing to work together with Swindon Engines to understand more about the car and the engine,” said Team Manager Andrew Dean.

“We know the car has the capability, but we just need some more time to realise its full potential. This has been our first chance to gauge ourselves against the opposition, but I don’t think that our rivals have shown their true hand. Thruxton will be an interesting season opener.”