Tom Chilton pleased to make winning start at Donington Park

Tom Chilton was left over the moon after reaping the benefits of a strong winter testing programme at the opening rounds of the British Touring Car Championship season at Donington Park.

The EXCELR8 Motorsport racer – who is now the most experienced driver on the grid this year – produced a superlative drive in the reverse grid contest to claim a commanding lights-to-flag victory ahead of his team-mate Tom Ingram.

That result, along with two other strong finishes, means that the Hyundai i30 N driver now heads to his home round at Brands Hatch in less than a fortnight sitting third in the Drivers’ Championship.

“A race win in the final race, and third in the points is a really pleasing way to go into Brands Hatch and my favourite circuit on the calendar, although we haven’t had it all our own way this weekend,” said Chilton.

“However, we fought through and to score the first win for Team VERTU this season and help to secure the team award for the weekend as a whole is mega.

“Luckily, the issue we had in qualifying came in Q3 as it didn’t leave us on the back foot too much for race day, where we were able to really make the most of the pace we had in the car.

“NAPA Racing are also very quick, so it isn’t just us and I feel the others were playing catch-up a bit, so it was important to really maximise what was available. We know the others will improve but we really made the most of a strong winter testing programme to hit the ground running and deliver the results.”