Nick Halstead will hope to make steps forwards in his second season in the British Touring Car Championship after a positive start to pre-season testing in his new-look Team Bristol Street Motors Hyundai.

Halstead revealed a striking new livery on his car in a special event at Donington Park last month having agreed a new major partnership deal with Razor, the company behind the Crazy Carts that he introduced to the BTCC paddock last season.

The launch event not only saw the covers come off the 'Crazy Cart XXXL' design on the Hyundai but also gave fans in attendance the chance to experience a series of Crazy Cart races involving Halstead and a number of his BTCC rivals - offering a taster for what to expect during the 2024 season.

Pre-season running kicked off at Brands Hatch where Halstead was able to lap nearly half a second quicker than he had done during the corresponding race meeting last season, despite running without hybrid in operation on his car.

Moving on to Croft, Halstead then had the opportunity to run the new-for-2024 levels of hybrid for the first time and whilst changeable conditions prevented him from setting a truly representative lap time, confidence is now high going into the final pre-season test scheduled for the annual launch event at Donington Park.

"It was fantastic to take the covers off the Crazy Cart livery at Donington Park and the reaction from the fans has been overwhelmingly positive, which is exactly what we hoped for," he said.

"Testing so far has been productive although like everyone else, the weather hasn’t been on our side, particularly at Croft where I didn’t manage to get my laps in when the circuit conditions were at their best.

"Saying that, I’ve been pleased with the pace I’ve shown and I’m feeling comfortable in the car already, so hopefully when we now head to Donington Park for the season launch test, we can get a full day of dry running to really set us up for the opening round.

"I’ve said over the winter that I felt the additional hybrid power would spice up the action. Having now had the chance to try it on track, I’m even more certain that that will be the case - and I think fans are in for a treat when the racing action kicks off!"

The final pre-season test before the 2024 season kicks off is at Donington Park on the 16th April.

EXCELR8 Motorsport's Ronan Pearson set the overall pace during the second official Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship pre-season, with the #14 Hyundai's morning lap time holding sway throughout the day at Croft.

With wet conditions setting in for much of the afternoon running it was NAPA Racing UK that enjoyed the best of the tricky conditions as Ash Sutton topped team-mate Dan Rowbottom in the order, albeit several seconds off Pearson's ultimate pace.

Toyota Gazoo Racing's Andrew Watson was third quickest in the wet, whilst Tom Ingram bounced back from an earlier fire in his Hyundai to take fourth in the afternoon.

It was Pearson, however, who stole the show with his 1:22.243s flier taking top spot from the WSR-run BMWs of Jake Hill and Colin Turkington.

The afternoon proved more difficult, however, with Hill's Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport’s crashing into the barrier while on a quick lap through the Sunny In/Sunny Out section.

Josh Cook was another likely title contender that ended his day early after the Bath driver also had an off-track moment.

The NAPA Racing UK trio of Dan Cammish, Sutton and Rowbottom were fourth, fifth and sixth overall, thanks to their morning efforts, as the squad proved the pace of the Ford Focus in both wet and dry conditions.

Tom Chilton’s #3 EXCELR8 Motorsport Hyundai was next up, ahead of a Speedworks-run treble of Robb Huff, Josh Cook and Watson rounding out the top ten.

Now the BTCC moves to Donington Park for the Official 2024 Season Launch and the final test session on Tuesday 16 April.

A full timing classification of the BTCC test at Croft can be found here.

EXCELR8 Motorsport's Ronan Pearson set the pace during the morning session at Croft Circuit today (10 April), before rain brought a premature halt to proceedings.

The young Hyundai driver set an impressive pace as the #14 held off a gaggle of BMWs and Fords on the timesheets.

Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport's Jake Hill and Team BMW's Colin Turkington were second and third, as the Bavarian marque continues to show its winter improvements following impressive runs for both Hill and stablemate Adam Morgan at Brands Hatch last week.

The NAPA Racing UK trio of Dan Cammish, Ash Sutton and Dan Rowbottom were third, fourth and fifth respectively, as we begin to get a glimpse of the likely competitiveness in the 2024 BTCC field.

Tom Chilton's #3 EXCELR8 Motorsport Hyundai was next up, ahead of a Speedworks-run treble of Robb Huff, Josh Cook and Andrew Watson – the latter not only setting a solid lap time, but also experiencing an off midway through the session, which brought about one of a few red flag periods during the morning running.

2022 Champion Tom Ingram was one of the drivers who didn't set a competitive lap time during the session, and that opportunity was completely taken away when rain descended onto the North Yorkshire circuit in the final hour of the morning.

The action gets back underway this afternoon and you can follow live timing here.

A full timing classification of the BTCC test at Croft can be found here.

Jake Hill finished the first official test of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship pre-season on top of the timesheet after a day of mixed conditions at Brands Hatch.

The Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport driver made the most of the ever-improving conditions in the afternoon session to make his mark in the #24 BMW.

The track was still damp from the morning rain as the afternoon session got underway, and it was Josh Cook in his Speedworks-run Toyota leading the way early on, with EXCELR8 Motorsport's Ronan Pearson a close second.

Evans Halshaw Power Maxed Racing's Árón Taylor-Smith was next in the order as the times started to tumble throughout the afternoon. Cook's consistency was clear to see in his new Toyota, as the Bath racer set several competitive lap times.

Reigning champion Ash Sutton was never far from the action as he continued to place himself third in the standings through both the opening hours. NAPA Racing UK's #1 ended the day just outside the top five in sixth.

The last 30 minutes were where the lap times were coming in thick and fast as the day drew to a close. Hill topping the times with a 47.868 second lap with series returnee Rob Huff taking second for Toyota Gazoo Racing UK and, the morning-session's fastest man, Adam Morgan less than a tenth behind in his Team BMW machine.

The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship now moves on to Croft for its second test on 10 April, before the final run at Donington Park on 16 April.

Click here for the full classification from today's test at Brands Hatch.