Team VERTU Celebrates Winning Start To Title Campaign

28/04/2025 12:43 Share

Team VERTU Celebrates Winning Start To Title Campaign

For the fourth successive season, Team VERTU was able to celebrate a trip to the top step of the podium as the new Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship headed for Donington Park for the opening meeting of the year.

The EXCELR8-run team made the short trip from its base in Droitwich to the East Midlands circuit hoping to make the most of a productive winter of testing with its Hyundai i30 Fastback N - all geared towards maximising the performance of the car following a raft of regulation changes across the winter.

From the moment practice kicked off, it was clear that that winter work has paid dividends as Tom Ingram and Tom Chilton scored a 1-2 in the opening session of the weekend, with team newcomer Adam Morgan slotting into P4.

Fellow newcomer Michael Crees was sampling his car for the first time but got much needed mileage under his belt, before then improving his best lap by more than a second in FP2.

That was once again headed by Ingram, with Morgan and Chilton in third and fourth to leave confidence high going into qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

A difficult start to the session saw Morgan and Crees both knocked out at the first hurdle, with Morgan in particular left frustrated by track limits penalties that meant he failed to set a representative time.

Ingram and Chilton would both make their way through to the Quick Six battle for pole and whilst Ingram earned third on the grid with a lap just 0.031s away from the quickest time, Chilton would be left in P6 as a result of a crank sensor issue that saw him stop on track.

All four cars ran the medium compound tyre in Sunday’s opening race, where Ingram led the charge with a strong second place having dived ahead of Dan Cammish for second early on before spending the remainder of the race fixed onto the rear of leader Ash Sutton.

Chilton had crossed the line in fifth place before a post-race penalty for a clash with Josh Cook dropped him back to seventh, whilst Crees finished a lap down in 18th having been forced to make an unscheduled pitstop.

Morgan had been on a charge and was pushing towards the top ten when a puncture forced him to park his car and retire, leaving him at the back of the grid once again in race two.

That race provided a similar result at the front as Ingram repeated his second place finish from earlier in the day, hounding Sutton throughout to pick up another podium finish, with Chilton battling his way to a hard-fought sixth.

Morgan would be one of the stars of the race as he showed the pace in his car by storming through the pack to finish tenth - a gain of 14 places - whilst Crees displayed improved race pace to finish 17th.

With the top six reversed on the grid for the finale, Chilton lined up on pole and made the most of his grid position to scamper away at the start, and duly held on out front throughout to take a win that maintains Team VERTU’s success at the circuit

Behind, Ingram fought his way through into second spot and then produced a defensive masterclass to keep Sutton at bay to once again finish as runner-up in a 1-2 finish that left Team VERTU as highest scoring team for the weekend.

Morgan’s strong race pace was again reflected by the way he battled his way to fifth place, with Crees taking 19th having been embroiled in a titanic midfield tussle throughout.

Ingram and Chilton sit second and third in the standings after the opening weekend, with Morgan tenth despite his race one DNF.

EXCELR8 heads the Manufacturers’/Constructors’ title race, with Team VERTU on top in the Teams’ Championship as a result of the finishing positions in the final race of the weekend.

The series now moves on to Brands Hatch Indy in two weeks.

Tom Chilton, #3 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
“A race win in the final race, and third in the points is a really pleasing way to go into Brands Hatch and my favourite circuit on the calendar, although we haven’t had it all our own way this weekend. However, we fought through and to score the first win for Team VERTU this season and help to secure the team award for the weekend as a whole is mega.

“Luckily, the issue we had in qualifying came in Q3 as it didn’t leave us on the back foot too much for race day, where we were able to really make the most of the pace we had in the car. NAPA Racing are also very quick, so it isn’t just us and I feel the others were playing catch-up a bit, so it was important to really maximise what was available. We know the others will improve but we really made the most of a strong winter testing programme to hit the ground running and deliver the results.”

Adam Morgan, #33 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
“Qualifying ruined a good Saturday and left us back in 21st on the grid when we had a car that should have been up in the top eight at the very least, so to come through and end the weekend with a P5 is pretty nice. I’m getting more and more in tune with the car every time I drive the car and hopefully this is a sign of thing to comes.

“Even in race one the pace had been great to come through the pack without using the turbo boost to just outside the top ten, and then I managed the soft tyres well to climb up the order in race two - although I think I’d have struggled if the race had run to any more laps.

“To the come through the field like was did and show the pace we showed is pleasing and I know there is still more to come. I feel I’ve gelled with the team very quickly and I’m having fun, but the key thing is that we have a competitive package, and I think I can be mixing it at the front for nine more rounds.”

Tom Ingram, #80 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
“This season will be one where you can’t adopt the kind of approach that we saw Colin Turkington take previously of always being in the top six - now we realistically need to be pushing for the podium each weekend. It’s going to be a very competitive season, but we have started it strongly, which is ultimately what we needed to do.

“Clearly, we were very strong this weekend, as were NAPA Racing, but we know that there are others on the grid who are going to improve as the season goes on and the impact of the new turbo boost rules really takes effect.

“We’ve made our performance count this weekend to pick up three strong results, and I’m really pleased for Tom to get the win as he deserved it.

Michael Crees, #777 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
“There is still a bit of work to do but I’ve done my test weekend now and I want to try and look forwards. We need to look at the data we’ve collected, and I think I need to work on my own fitness as it was tough in those conditions, but we’ve come away the opening round with no damage on the car and three solid races.

“The pace has been encouraging when you consider the lack of time, I’ve had in the car coming into the weekend and whilst points would have been nice, I’m happy enough with the results.”

Justina Williams, Team VERTU Team Owner, said:
“This has been a fantastic way for us to start the season and although it is still very, very early in the title race, it’s clear that the hard work that has gone in over the winter has put us in a strong position.

“We’re now reaping the rewards of the fact that we were able to get out testing at Anglesey before Christmas thanks to the support of Vertu, as it provided us with that early information of what we needed to do to deal with the removal of the hybrid systems.

“From the moment we hit the track this weekend, we’ve been quick and to come away with a win, four podiums and the team’s award is fantastic. Not only have Tom and Tom done a fantastic job, Adam has also driven brilliantly on his first weekend in the car and we’ve seen good progress from Michael considering this was his first real time behind the wheel.

“We can take a lot of confidence from the weekend but there is a long way still to go, and we need to make sure we don’t rest on our laurels.”