Photo: FRD Team

Josh Burdon “really enjoyed” his first touring car experience

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Changan Ford FRD’s new international wild card driver Josh Burdon says he really enjoyed his first experience of touring car racing, battling through from 17th to seventh in the brand new Ford Focus at Ningbo in Race 2, before retiring with a technical issue.

The Australian has been drafted in to support the team’s title charge, with Martin Cao and Andy Yan both in contention for the drivers’ title, and with the manufacturers’ title the main target for the manufacturer.

Burdon has a long relationship with FRD, and first tested for the team ahead of 2017 in the third-generation car, the C346.

“It’s been good, and to be honest it’s been challenging,” said Burdon to TouringCarTimes.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever raced a front-wheel drive car this weekend. We had just two 30-minute practices, and also the team had opted to bring a brand new car for this round, so a totally new car, new engine, so we kind of got chucked into the deep end.

“We ironed out some problems, made some progress, and by the end we were running in the top seven from starting last, so there’s positives to take from it.”

Burdon’s first experience of touring cars saw him knocking wheels with the series regulars as he worked his way through the order at Ningbo.

“I really enjoyed this kind of racing, coming from GT3 and Blancpain where I normally race where it isn’t quite so aggressive and ‘touchy’. I exchanged paint with quite a few cars as I was coming through, and just had a walk around the car and thought there would be some damage, but I’m quite surprised with what you can get away with.”

Burdon will be back with the team this weekend at Wuhan, with the team’s driver line-up for the final two races still to be confirmed. International drivers who’ve previously driven for the team include Dan Wells, James Nash and Dan Lloyd.

“This was a last-minute thing. Next weekend I’ll be at Wuhan for another go at the street track, I feel a lot more prepared now and we should be aiming for the podium, after that I’m not sure what the future holds. I’m super-busy myself, I’ve got Asian Le Mans coming up and the last round of Blancpain, but I’ve really enjoyed my weekend.”