Airwaves Racing enjoyed a successful first run of the 2014 season with returning BTCC legend Fabrizio Giovanardi on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

The test session was orchestrated around the two-time BTCC champion’s maiden run in the squad’s in-house designed and built Ford Focus ST and was the Italian’s first experience of the modern day BTCC car.

“Today was fine – it was good to be out there”, said Giovanardi. “People have said these cars can be difficult to drive but I didn’t really find that. In my mind it doesn’t matter – a car is a car and I have to understand how it works and see what I can do to improve it. The Indy circuit is a tough circuit and a difficult one to judge progress on a day like today but the car has run well.”

Team Principal David Bartrum was equally positive about his new signing’s contribution; “Today was all about FG getting comfortable in the car,” he commented.

“He’s getting used to the feel, gear changes, seating position, pedals – everything. We want to be able to provide him with a fast and comfortable car, and then he’ll go out and do the job for us, as his attention to detail is second to none.”

“We’ve used the 2013 car today and you’ll notice the new car will look a bit different. We hope to be in the 2014 car next week, which is when the real work will begin, but today is a great start.”

“We’ve been able to make some aero changes and looked at every aspect of the car in order to improve it,” added the Airwaves Boss.

“We have another one-day test at Brands Hatch next week and then we’ll really start to crank it up with a few two-day runs at Snetterton and Oulton Park, before we come back here, and then of course we have the Media Day at Donington Park. We have six or seven test days in total, which is great.”

The Airwaves Racing squad, based at Wrotham, will be continuing its winter testing programme in the coming weeks ahead of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship’s official season launch at Donington Park on 18 March.

The 2014 BTCC season opener takes place at Motorbase Performance’s local track, Brands Hatch on March 29/30.

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