Handy Motorsport's Rob Austin came away from last week's Dunlop tyre test at Snetterton pleased with the progress he and the team had made given two days to work on the car, leaving him hopeful of a more fruitful second half of the campaign.

Austin's pace was encouraging, setting the sixth quickest time of the test overall having worked hard to make a shift in setup that better suits his driving style, having struggled to dial in the Toyota Avensis; this season being the first experience for the Evesham racer of a front-wheel drive machine in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

"I think since pre-season we've sort of lost ourselves a little bit," said Austin. "This test has given us the chance to gradually get back to where we were. It's the opportunity to jump a few steps and I think we've done that.

"The time we set on Wednesday was on old tyres so we knew there was a lot more to come out of that. I don't think we went at the most opportune moment on Thursday but we're happy we've taken a step and I'm looking forward to come back here and race now."

"We had a bit of an over-panic at Brands Hatch and aborted to Tom's (Ingram) setup and he drives completely differently to me. There's been a couple of communication errors and so on so it's taken us until now to work that out and work towards a setup that I can drive."

The Handy Motorsport man sits 15th in the BTCC Drivers' standings at the half way stage, with a best single result of 7th over the Thruxton weekend. An 11th and two P12's last time round at Croft signal improvement and following testing, Austin is optimistic that the best is yet to come from a season that has so far failed to live up to his ambitions.

"We're pretty close now," he said. "We've still got a little bit to find. It's a long track and a few of those that were ahead of us at Snetterton would have possibly been a chunk lighter than us as well so we're quite happy with that – there's a bit more in the bag as well.

"We've just got to work on taking a step forward. We've still not achieved what we thought we should have in the first half of the year, not anywhere close. We've got to start getting towards that and keep making little steps. We made a little step on Wednesday which transformed the car and we've got to go from there."

Last week's Dunlop tyre test at Snetterton gave teams the opportunity to tinker with the car outside of the time pressures of a race weekend and several took the chance to give some hot prospects a first run in a Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship machine around the Nofolk circuit.

Firstly, Power Maxed Racing handed a drive in one if its Chevrolets to Volkswagen Racing Cup leader Bobby Thompson. PMR hope that its Young Driver Program, introduced earlier this year, will act as a pathway for future BTCC stars.

"It was my first time in the car so the morning up until lunch was more or less just to get a feel of the car," said Thompson. "I’ve never driven something quite like this.

"I’ve been in something vaguely similar, in the VW Cup, with it being front-wheel drive but the BTCC car has a lot more power and a lot more grip through the corners.

"The car’s a lot softer than what I’m used to and it carries so much more corner speed which is immediately obvious. It’s very quick in a straight line too and it’s a lot better using a sequential gearbox rather than have to fight for a gear all the time.

"We weren’t exactly putting times in, as I was still learning the track and the car.

"We’re leading the championship in the VW Cup. I was giving good feedback in that championship and they wanted to see if I could do it in the touring car. More eyes are better than none so it’s another driver to give more feedback in the touring car and see how I get on."

Power Maxed Racing Team Principal, Adam Weaver said: “Bobby has shone this year for us in the VW Cup, and I believe in rewarding his hard work and talent with the chance to test a BTCC car. Bobby’s attitude, skill and personality are exactly what we are looking for in a driver, and we believe he will go a long way.”

The next young gun to test was Renault UK Clio Cup UK leader Ant Whorton-Eales, who Team HARD has given the opportunity of a drive in one of its Toyota Avensis’ in testing at Snetterton on Thursday.

The 22-year-old's link up with Tony Gilham’s outfit was part of a tie-in with JamSport Racing aimed at nurturing young talent in British motor sport.

"It’s been mega," Whorton-Eales. "We had one new set of tyres in the morning which was the first time I’d been on new tyres all the way round a car because in Clios we only concentrate on the fronts.

"We seemed to be really strong in the speed traps and coming off the corners and I think I’ve developed that technique racing in Clios for so long – our corner exits are very important.

"I was a bit of time here and there through the fast corners because we’re not quite carrying the speed yet. You underestimate just how much grip there is in these cars. When it does break traction though it breaks fast and you soon run out of tarmac.

"It’s something I had always wanted to do – I've always wanted to have a go in a touring car and Tony (Gilham) has given me the chance. I’m here again in Clios in a couple of weeks so it’s a bit of track time as well. Whether it will lead anywhere who knows, great if it does."

Lastly, Maximum Motorsport handed a drive to Dennis Strandberg. Most recently, the young Swede had driven for Academy Motorsport in an Aston Martin GT4 yielding third overall in British GT.

“I did a race with Maximum Motorsport in the VAG Trophy which was my first ever experience in a front-wheel drive car, so this is my second time in a front-wheel drive car,” said Strandberg.

“It felt pretty good. They gave me the opportunity to come and test here and I’m pretty pleased about it. I’m hoping to do a bit better than I’ve done so far but I’m just having thirty more minutes this afternoon.

“It’s completely different to anything I’ve ever driven before. I’ve driven a few cars but nothing like this. It’s a good car. It feels like a proper race car. I’m used to rear-wheel drive cars so my driving style is very much rear wheel drive. I’m getting there and I know there is time in the car and in me.

“This year I’m doing races here and there. I did British GT last year and I’m looking to a possible BTCC drive next year as well as GTs or maybe a drive back in Sweden. I have taken today to test everything out to see if I’m good enough so we’ll see and time will tell.”

As far as times go, it's always difficult to draw comparisons in testing but it was Whorton-Eales that set the best with a 1:58.012 edging Thompson's best effort by 0.015s. Strandberg's time in the car was limited, leaving early in the afternoon to make further racing commitments in Belgium.

RCIB Insurance Racing's Michael Epps raced to the latest Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship #ForeverForward honours, gaining a total of 20 positions over the Croft weekend.

Yet another three rounds of unpredictability in BTCC 2016 yielded overtake after overtake at the North Yorkshire circuit. The action left Team JCT600 with GardX's Rob Collard top of the overall Dunlop #ForeverForward pile, while post-Oulton Park leader Rob Austin slipped to third.

Martin Depper's eye for a pass in the increasingly racy-looking Eurotech Racing Honda Civic Type R sees him stay in the overall top three having gained 17 positions at Croft. Team-mate Dan Lloyd recovered from a first corner coming-together with Colin Turkington in the opener to jump eight and ten places respectively in the latter two rounds. WIX Racing's Adam Morgan made the biggest single gain of the weekend in race three as he scythed through the field from 31st to 14th.

Epps's race three was the one that swung it for the Hertfordshire racer. A DNF in the second round was a shame for the Team HARD man, given the pace he and the Kent outfit had displayed over the early throes of the weekend, which went some way to being rewarded with his 14th, and points, in race one. Epps made the best of that non-finish in the second round, gaining 15 places in the final encounter of the weekend – no mean feat in a single round in the BTCC.

At the half-way stage of the campaign the results and standings are as follows:

Dunlop #ForeverForward drivers of the weekend

1 Michael Epps 20
2 Dan Lloyd 18
3 Adam Morgan/Martin Depper 17

Dunlop #ForeverForward overall standings

1 Rob Collard 77
2 Martin Depper 69
3 Rob Austin/Michael Epps 67

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship has successfully tested a new vehicle recovery system ahead of its introduction, becoming mandatory for all circuits in 2017.

TOCA, the BTCC’s series organisers, made the decision that it has become necessary to speed up recovery in order to reduce lost track time and time spent under yellow flag conditions as well as behind the safety car.

The full lifting system was introduced by the Porsche Carrera Cup two years ago and it was agreed that the BTCC would be following the same concept.

With the use of both front and rear-wheel drive in the BTCC, implementation is complex due to variations in the centre of gravity between each make and model. RML, the chassis component supplier to the championship, were contracted to carry out a study and provide a solution that would work across all cars and all weight distributions.

At last week’s Snetterton tyre test, Dextra Racing with Team Parker offered to have their Ford Focus modified to demonstrate the principle, which was successfully carried out using an MSVR recovery vehicle.

BTCC Technical Director, Peter Riches, said: “We’re delighted to have demonstrated this proof of concept successfully after a lot of hard work behind the scenes from RML to get it off the ground, so to speak!

“We’ve seen the positive impact the system has had in the Porsche Carrera Cup and we’re sure that with the full lifting system in place for all cars on the grid for next season, we’ll be able to increase green-flag time and give the fans even more on-track action over the course of 2017 and beyond.”

This week's official Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship tyre test, running on Wednesday and Thursday at Norfolk's Snetterton circuit was a resounding success, with some 30 drivers attending and four running a full data-gathering programme for title sponsor and tyre partner Dunlop.

Teams and drivers alike relished the opportunity, made possible by Dunlop which organised the test, for a more relaxed atmosphere over two days, bestowing upon them a unique opportunity to tinker with the car outside of the time pressures of a race weekend.

Tom Ingram, the quickest driver of the test outright echoed the thoughts of many a driver in the paddock who seized the chance to find what does and doesn't work in terms of setup.

“We’ve just been playing around with different setups really," said Ingram. “On the Friday or Saturday of a race meeting you don’t get a lot of time to tinker with the car and setups, the geometry and differentials. It’s been nice to have a morning where you can come up with some ideas."

Dunlop ran a programme of validation and data collection work given the changing construction of its tyres for next season, where it is due to run both taller and wider rubber. The change in BTCC suspension componentry for this campaign is also something that the manufacturer is aiming to further its understanding of.

Dunlop Motorsport's Mickey Butler was in attendance for the duration and was delighted with the a full pit lane, the work completed and the feedback on 2017's tyres.

"We had to validate the direction we need to go in for 2017," said Butler. "Obviously there have been quite a few key changes this year to the suspension and various other components so we’re still trying to understand what that is doing to the current tyre.

"All we’ve done this year as of now is we’ve looked at the construction of the tyre and we’ve left the compounds themselves alone. Because of everything that is happening in going to a taller and wider tyre, it’s important first and foremost to understand what effect that is going to have.

"We spent a lot of time trying to understand things on day one with some mixed results but on day two, things stabilised and the direction we thought it would go in has come to pass, which is good. Most of the testing we did on the Tuesday were longer runs. We switched to Gordon Shedden’s car for that and that’s about it. The rest of the work was done on the Wednesday.

"Three out of the four test drivers have given us positive feedback about the tyres so it looks as if we’ve got a good direction for 2017. Out of the drivers we had testing, they picked the 2017 set straight away.

"I’ve got to find a balance between the front-wheel drive cars and the rear-wheel drive cars and go through the data and think about it. I’m definitely happy with the direction.

"There was a turnout of thirty cars over the test, which was just fantastic, with Matt Neal, Colin Turkington, Sam Tordoff and Mat Jackson running the 2017 construction at various points for a chassis mix and a selection of both front and rear-wheel drive machines."

Maximum Motorsport today handed a drive to young Swede Dennis Strandberg as part of its Snetterton tyre test running.

The 22-year-old was one of three fresh faces on the day, the others being Bobby Thompson at Power Maxed Racing and Ant Whorton-Eales at Team HARD.

Strandberg's racing CV includes a spell in 2010 in the Southern Swedish Karting Championship before moving to the Ginetta GT5 Swedish Championship in 2013, winning the series outright. He then moved to the UK series, finishing third in 2014 and fifth in 2015.

Most recently, Strandberg has driven for Academy Motorsport in an Aston Martin GT4; a collaboration that worked really well, yielding third overall. He joined Maximum Motorsport earlier in the season, driving a Volkswagen Scirocco in the Maximumgroup.net VAG Trophy and is lined up to race the same Volkswagen Scirocco in the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup at Spa Francorchamps with the team.

Strandberg set in a respectable 1:58.845 in the morning session on Thursday in the Ford Focus despite being most accustomed to rear-wheel drive cars, and he is testing the waters as to a potential foray into the championship next year.

"I did a race with Maximum Motorsport in the VAG Trophy which was my first ever experience in a front-wheel drive car, so this is my second time in a front-wheel drive car," said Strandberg.

"It felt pretty good. They gave me the opportunity to come and test here and I’m pretty pleased about it. I’m hoping to do a bit better than I’ve done so far but I’m just having thirty more minutes this afternoon.

"It’s completely different to anything I’ve ever driven before. I’ve driven a few cars but nothing like this. It’s a good car. It feels like a proper race car. I’m used to rear-wheel drive cars so my driving style is very much rear wheel drive. I’m getting there and I know there is time in the car and in me.

"This year I’m doing races here and there. I did British GT last year and I’m looking to a possible BTCC drive next year as well as GTs or maybe a drive back in Sweden. I have taken today to test everything out to see if I’m good enough so we’ll see and time will tell."

Alan Gow’s exceptional career in global motorsport was recognised by the MIA at its annual House of Lords Summer Reception (28 June), with the presentation of the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Motorsport Industry.

The prestigious accolade was presented by the Rt Hon Anna Soubry MP, Minister of State for Small Business, Industry & Enterprise, and is the highest personal honour bestowed by the MIA. The annual event was attended by 300 leading figures from government, Parliament and the international motorsport industry, including 40 guests from Parliament (including 10 ministers) and 10 UK-based motorsport teams.

Following considerable motorsport success in his home country of Australia, Alan Gow moved to the UK 26 years ago, where he has since led significant growth for the motorsport industry, both in the UK and around the world, creating a wealth of investment and employment opportunities.

Gow currently serves as president of the FIA World Touring Car Commission, Chairman of the Motor Sports Association (MSA) and a chief organiser of both the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the World Rally Championship in Wales. He is also director of the hugely popular British Touring Car Championship and a long-standing member of the Executive Committee of the Motorsport Industry Association.

Speaking of his award win, Gow said: “I’m truly honoured and humbled to receive this accolade from my fellow MIA members. While I may be an Australian, I am a dyed-in-the-wool supporter of UK motorsport. Indeed, if my work since arriving here in 1990 has benefited the sport of which I’m so proud of in any way, I’m overjoyed to have made that contribution. I’d also like to personally thank the MIA for the great work they continue to do for our sport and industry.”

Chris Aylett, CEO of the MIA, added: “The MIA is delighted to present Alan Gow with the outstanding contribution award. A reliable and knowledgeable advocate of the British motorsport industry, Alan has a well-deserved reputation as the backbone of touring car racing, both here in the UK and worldwide. His dedication and exceptional personal commitment to the business of motorsport epitomises what is needed to be worthy of receiving this coveted award.”

Team HARD has given Renault Clio Cup UK championship leader Ant Whorton-Eales the opportunity of a drive in one of its Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Toyota Avensis' in testing at Snetterton on Thursday.

The 22-year-old is set to link up with Tony Gilham’s outfit as part of a tie-in with JamSport Racing aimed at nurturing young talent in British motor sport.

Gilham has been a major proponent of blooding some of the sport’s prospects, with the likes of Michael Epps, Jake Hill and Chris Smiley the immediate evidence of that as current drivers in the Team HARD stable. Providing opportunities for up and coming drivers is something the team principal is undoubtedly passionate about.

“The Clio Cup is a very good, proven feeder series and Ant’s long term ambition is to be in a touring car,” said Gilham.

“We’re always looking to expand and grow and to recognise talent coming through motor sport. It is nice to give people the opportunity.

“It’s Ant's first shot in a touring car – one that’s had a top six, and several top-ten finishes and just today at Snetterton we’ve placed second with Michael Epps so we’re a team that’s on the up at the moment.”

Whorton-Eales shares Gilham’s enthusiasm, and is looking forward to a maiden drive in BTCC machinery.

“I can’t wait to be honest, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Whorton-Eales.

“I’ve no idea what a BTCC car feels like and obviously they’re big step from what I’m used to in the Clio Cup but I’ll get in the car and hopefully we’ll see just what I can do.

“You’ve just got to look as far as Ash Sutton really. He was the main man in Clios last year and there’s no reason why I can’t do a similar sort of thing.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity and massive thanks to Tony (Gilham) and Team HARD for sorting it out. The tie-in between Team HARD and JamSport is great for young drivers and to be fair, I think Tony is as interested to see how I’ll get on as I am!”

Tom Ingram mastered all weathers to top both a dry morning and a sodden afternoon session on the first of Snetterton’s two-day Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship tyre test.

The test gives teams an opportunity to experiment with a number of different tyre compounds ahead of the 2017 campaign, while gathering data and feedback for the championship’s title sponsor and tyre supplier Dunlop. Drivers also seized upon a rare opportunity outside of the time pressures of a race weekend to tinker with setup options and fine tune their cars.

Ingram set an impressive pace, besting last year’s pole benchmark and thus the lap record around the Norfolk circuit in the process of recording the morning’s best time at a then dry Snetterton.

The Speedworks Motorsport man was near half a second clear of the Pirtek Racing Ford Focus of Andrew Jordan while Dan Lloyd continued a fine vein of form to place third with team-mate Jeff Smith adding to the positivity at Eurotech Racing with the fourth fastest time. Meanwhile, a bolt from the blue saw Ollie Jackson fire his AmD Tuning.com Audi S3 into sixth.

It was a morning for the front-wheel drive runners too, with the first rear-driven car, championship leader Sam Tordoff’s BMW 125i M Sport, landing 10th spot.

Over the course of the lunch break, the heavens began to open and the Dunlop Blu Response wets were prepared – not long since their last action out in race three at Croft.

The weather didn’t affect Ingram, who stole a march on the rest to the tune of three quarters of a second to top the timesheets once more in the Toyota Avensis – a car that was clearly dialed in to the demands of Snetterton throughout the day.

Adam Morgan had headed the times for the first half of the session before further running for Ingram saw him pushed down to third, with Michael Epps in the Team HARD-backed RCIB Insurance Racing Toyota pipping the WIX Racing man to second by a tenth – further encouragement for Tony Gilham’s squad after a positive Croft weekend.

Ingram said: “The car has felt really strong and we’ve just been playing around with different setups all day really. We’ve come up with a bit of a plan that we’ve been running through and we’ve just been trying to stick to it.

“On the Friday or Saturday of a race meeting you don’t get a lot of time to tinker with the car and setups, the geometry and differentials. It’s been nice to have a morning where you can come up with some ideas.

“We had a couple of runs on new tyres to see what the car does and obviously the car was quick enough for a very good time.”

There is more to come from testing at Snetterton, which is set to get underway in drier conditions from 9am on Thursday morning with a two-hour lunch break before an afternoon session which will end at 5pm. For coverage as it happens, follow the action on BTCC.net and across social media.

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Testing – Snetterton, Wednesday AM:

1 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport 1m55.932s
2 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Pirtek Racing +0.484s
3 Daniel LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing +0.699s
4 Jeff SMITH (GBR) Eurotech Racing +1.049s
5 Rob AUSTIN (GBR) Handy Motorsport +1.161s
6 Ollie JACKSON (GBR) AmD Tuning.com +1.236s
7 Ashley SUTTON (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.317s
8 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.341s
9 Josh COOK (GBR) MG Racing RCIB Insurance +1.391s
10 Sam TORDOFF (GBR) Team JCT600 with GardX +1.405s

2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – Testing – Snetterton, Wednesday PM:

1 Tom INGRAM (GBR) Speedworks Motorsport 2m14.990s
2 Michael EPPS (GBR) RCIB Insurance Racing +0.733s
3 Adam MORGAN (GBR) WIX Racing +0.828s
4 Aron SMITH (GBR) BKR +0.919s
5 Gordon SHEDDEN (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing +1.261s
6 Aiden MOFFAT (GBR) Laser Tools Racing +1.853s
7 Hunter ABBOTT (GBR) Power Maxed Racing +2.220s
8 James COLE (GBR) Silverline Subaru BMR Racing +2.230s
9 Andrew JORDAN (GBR) Pirtek Racing +2.358s
10 Dan LLOYD (GBR) Eurotech Racing +2.472s