General News
04/Feb/2013
Morgan targets the top ten
Adam Morgan and the Ciceley Racing team are ready to hit the ground running ahead of the 2013 BTCC campaign – a season in which they hope to finish in the top ten of the championship.
Preparation work on the team’s new Toyota Avensis is progressing as planned and, with two months to go before the start of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, the team is on schedule for its vital pre-season testing programme. Morgan, 24, hopes to be able to ‘shake down’ the NGTC car mid-month and then head to a UK circuit for a couple of days at the end of February, ahead of a full programme of testing during March.
Ciceley’s new chief engineer, the experienced Paul Ridgeway, is overseeing work on the Toyota and Adam is himself lending a hand with the build. “We have managed to get a lot of weight out of the shell already and the target is to be right on the minimum,” he says. “Paul has a brilliant success record in touring cars and he is absolutely the right man to be helping us.”
Morgan endured a challenging rookie year in the BTCC but he established himself as a quick qualifier. He collected his first championship points by mid-season, and went on to finish inside the top ten in four races. “It did not go nearly as well as I had hoped,” Morgan noted. “We had some good results, like qualifying fifth at Snetterton, but it was a steep learning curve and I made a few mistakes. I learned a lot and this year should be a lot better.
“We had 13 DNFs last season, I think, so this year I am working on keeping it on track and getting finishes and points. We have always had the pace: now we just need consistency and to cut out the mistakes. I want to be consistently finishing races inside the top ten. It will be incredibly tough, but if I keep the points ticking over and I can stay out of trouble we will end the season in good shape.”
In terms of his competition, Adam is clear on who he feels he’ll be battling against: “The other Toyota drivers, of course - I want to be beating them - but there will be a lot of stiff opposition out there. It’s hard to say at this stage which cars will be quick at which tracks.”
Overall Adam is loving every minute of his time in the BTCC, which is something he hopes will continue for a long time to come. “It’s been my dream ever since I started racing,” he concluded. “I love touring cars: the atmosphere, the crowds. I’d be well happy to get a works contract one day.”
