Aiden Moffat to miss the rest of the running on Saturday

16-year-old Aiden Moffat will start from the back of the grid for his British Touring Car Championship debut on Sunday at Knockhill after an engine problem in FP1 curtailed his running on Saturday.

Moffat, making his debut with the Finesse Motorsport team in their Super 2000 specification Chevrolet Cruze, was 26th fastest but just two-tenths of a second behind the Ford Focus ST of David Nye in Free Practice 1, ending the session early in the paddock when the problem occurred.

“I’m not sure what the problem was, I was just coming down the straight, and I think the belt snapped off,” said Moffat to TouringCarTimes.

The resulting damage means the team will need to fit a new engine for tomorrow, meaning Moffat will take part in his first BTCC race with just 15 laps of familiarisation with the Chevrolet Cruze around the Knockhill circuit.
“In almost every corner I know in myself I can quicker and I know there’s more in the car, but I didn’t want to go for it in the first session and throw it off because what we need is track time,” he said.

“The car is extraordinary, I’ve never driven anything like it but of course I’ve only ever driven the Fiesta and the Mini. The speed of it is unbelievable and you’d think with that speed it’d be hard to get the power down and to turn in, but the grip to match the speed is brilliant as well. It’s superb to drive.

“(The team are) also really supportive, they’re not like “go for the win” straight away, they’ve said if you come last it’s OK, it’s all about track time and learning, and then we can start trying to go for it. There’s no pressure from them, it’s a great team and that’s always a massive help.”