General News
26/Feb/2010
Strong first run for NGTC engine
TOCA’s new turbocharged ‘Next Generation’ engine has completed a successful first week of testing in the Pirtek Racing team’s Vauxhall Vectra.
Driver Andrew Jordan tried out the two-litre, four-cylinder unit at Snetterton on Tuesday and again today at Rockingham.
He and fellow Vectra driver, Pinkney Motorsport’s David Pinkney, will both use the engine in this season’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. The powerplant, built by the Swindon Engines Racing company under contract to BTCC organiser TOCA, is forecast to slash teams’ engine budgets by more than half.
Despite some cold conditions at Snetterton and drizzle at Rockingham, 20-year-old Jordan expressed himself happy with the progress made.
The Lichfield ace commented: “It was great to finally get the car out on track. When you’ve not been in the car all winter you begin to get a bit fidgety so I was raring to go on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately the weather hampered our development slightly, but we have made a good start.
“We have been building up speed and started to push the car on longer distances throughout the week. The engine adds a bit more weight over the front axle so we were working on reducing tyre wear on the front wheels over a long run and just getting the most out of the car. You can really feel the torque of the engine, especially out of the slow corners, so at tracks like Knockhill it should work really well.”
He added: “We are all very focused on getting the best out of the package and the team is working very closely with Swindon Engines who have been with us all week tracking our progress. Both sides are happy with how things are going, but we are under no illusions how much more work there is to do with only six weeks to go until the first round at Thruxton.”
The date of that first round at Thruxton, Hants is Easter Sunday 4 April. Tickets can be purchased in advance for just £23.00 per adult via the circuit's www.barc.net website or by calling 01264 882200.
More pictures of Andrew Jordan's striking Pirtek racing Vauxhall Vectra can be found in the Fans section of btcc.net.
