Andy Wilmot is delighted with the start that Trade Price Cars Racing has made to the start of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.

They have had strong showings at both the season opener at Brands Hatch and last weekend at Donington Park, with podium and strong finishes for Jake Hill at both rounds, and Mark Blundell finding his feet in a front wheel drive car.

Speaking to Kent Sports News about the teams start to the season, Andy said: “I am really pleased with the progress the team have made already this season, the results at the first round were definitely better than expected and this weekend at Donnington.

“I also think that we have exceeded expectations due to the positioning on the grid in race two and our tyre choice for race three.”

The first race of the season for the team saw Jake Hill standing on the podium, which was something the team thought they could only dream of.

He added: “Jake has done a superb job for us so far this season. He has developed the car and as promised it is now a front running machine. We are very happy to be eighth in the championship despite only finishing four races out of the six so far.”

Mark has now had two rounds to begin settling into the car and the championship and he is starting to adapt to the new series, even with all his experience.

Reflecting on Mark’s progress so far, Andy said: “Obviously front wheel drive is still very new to Mark and although he has some serious racing experience in many different rear wheel drive series not forgetting to mention F1.

“Every driver knows the touring car is a completely different animal and it is also a completely different animal to any other front wheel drive racing car. It takes some people longer to adapt than others but we have every confidence that he will up the sharp end soon.”

Donington Park was the biggest challenge that the team has faced in its short history having to rebuild Jake’s car and get it back on track for race two.

Andy added: “It was definitely a challenge getting the car out for race two because there was not a great deal of time after the car was returned to us by recovery to get it fixed. However the guys managed to do a great job and the car was race ready just in time.

“It was a storming drive by Jake in race two. The team was hoping for a points finish but Jake once again exceeded our expectations and he showed what he and the car are capable of.”

“Jake really held his own in the last race, starting in P2 we knew he had a challenge due to having the hard tyre which is notoriously slower than the soft. There were drivers on the soft tire behind which he knew he would have to defend from but he kept his head throughout the race and once again showed that he and the Audi deserve to be at the front of the grid.”

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