Rating the rookies

Heading into the opening round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, much of the focus was on the new car making its debut in the series – with all eyes on the Subaru Levorg as it rolled onto the track for the first time.

The season opener also marked the debut for the half a dozen drivers who will do battle for the Jack Sears Trophy this season, and it proved to be weekend of mixed fortunes as far as the rookie brigade were concerned.

Here, we take a look at how the six got on…

Ashley Sutton – MG Racing RCIB Insurance:

By far the stand out performer of the new boys, reigning Clio Cup champion Ashley Sutton heads away from Brands Hatch with the early advantage in the rookie standings having been the first JST driver home in each of the three races.

Despite the fact he only sampled his MG6 for the first time on Media Day, Sutton was on the pace from the outset and qualifying in fifth place was a clear indication of his speed.

What was more impressive however was the way in which Sutton dealt with racing a touring car the following day; most notably with a strong drive to fourth in race one.

A top six result in race two was just as impressive, whilst he managed the soft tyre as well as anyone to make it three top ten finishes in race three.

It’s early days, but Sutton clearly has the pace to run towards the front and a podium finish surely won’t be far away.

Matt Simpson – Speedworks:

One of the first rookie drivers to confirm his plans, Matt Simpson certainly didn’t look out of place on his first weekend in the series; quietly going about his business and picking up three finishes from his debut meeting.

Armed with one of last years Honda Civic Type-Rs, Simpson was perhaps a little disappointed with 24th on the grid for race one, although the former Intermarque racer wouldn’t have expected to start his first race in the series alongside Jason Plato…

In the first two races, a measured approach saw him make progress up the order whilst also showing plenty of ability to keep his rivals behind and the end reward was a first points finish in race three.

With more experience of racing a touring car, Simpson should be there or thereabouts when it comes to scoring points, and certainly didn’t disgrace himself first time out.

Michael Epps – RCIB Insurance Racing:

On the back foot from the outset when he was unable to take part in FP1, Michael Epps faced a baptism of fire given he hadn’t even got behind the wheel of his Toyota Avensis before the weekend started.

From there onwards however, he made solid progress and was unlucky that a trip off track in race one – ironically caused by an incident involving one of his team-mates – ultimately played a part in him failing to pick up points.

Based on his performance, it’s not out of the question that he can score as the season goes on and he needs to take advantage of any chances that come his way.

Mark Howard – BKR:

The step up from the Clio Cup has been a big one for Mark Howard, and there is no doubt he’ll want to improve on his performance at Brands Hatch.

On more than one occasion, his BKR-run Volkswagen was seen spinning and he was the only driver on the grid who failed to break into the 49s in any session across the weekend.

At the same time however, Howard is under no illusions about how challenging this season will be and had a smile on his face throughout the weekend in the paddock.

Working with Aron Smith will help bring him closer to the pace, although he’ll need to raise his game to challenge for points on merit rather than due to misfortune elsewhere.

Chris Smiley – TLC Racing:

Another driver who will head away from Brands Hatch wondering what might have been, Chris Smiley is a better driver than his debut results would suggest.

After slipping back from his practice positions in qualifying, Smiley found himself caught up in on track clashes in both race one and race two, and then retired from race three.

That meant there was no real opportunity to show the potential he has in a BTCC car, with a victory in DTM-supporting Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup in 2014 being an indication of what he is capable of if things are going his way.

‘Onwards and upwards’ was his view at the end of the weekend and it would be hard to disagree – better things lie ahead.

Kelvin Fletcher – Power Maxed Racing:

Another driver not to have sampled his car before the weekend, Kelvin Fletcher was thrown in at the deep end and propped up the times throughout Saturday as he tried to come to grips with his Chevrolet whilst also dealing with keeping out of the way of his rivals on track.

The amount of pace he found across the day despite that was promising however, and the speed on race day went some way towards silencing those critics who surfaced online before he’d even had chance to show what he could do.

Although his car wasn’t at its best in race one, Fletcher was closer to the pace before being forced into retirement with technical issues and then put in a strong performance in race two to lap just three tenths of a second off Matt Neal’s Honda.

A spin into the gravel in race three was unfortunate but with more time in the car, he’ll soon be pushing forwards towards the top 20 at least – and points are certainly not out of the question.