MacDowall Aims For Oulton Success After Strong Rockingham Test
Impressive Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rookie Alex MacDowall aims to continue his strong start to 2010 at Oulton Park next weekend, 5th/6th June, after posting the fifth fastest time in official testing at Rockingham earlier this week.
Securing his maiden BTCC podium finish at Kent’s Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit at the start of the month, the 19-year-old Cumbrian was once again at the sharp-end during Tuesday’s test with a best lap of 1m24.169 seconds (82.97mph) at the wheel of his Chevrolet Cruze.
Set during the three hour morning session in good conditions, Alex’s quickest time was within just 0.283 seconds of the overall pace and comes as a strong reminder of his fantastic early season form ahead of the next event on the calendar, rounds 10, 11 and 12, at Oulton Park in Cheshire.
“I’m fairly happy with the way the test went overall, it was a good day and we completed some good work”, said the Silverline Chevrolet driver, “Although we’ve had some bad luck during the first three race weekends, we’ve been close to the front since the start of the season so to continue in the top five at Rockingham was important and a good, solid result.”
Currently 13th in the driver standings, Carlisle-based Alex is just 25 points outside the championship top six after nine races. Taking his first BTCC podium in only his eighth outing in the UK’s biggest and most popular category, he’s rightly aiming for more rostrum success just over a week from now.
“I’m looking forward to Oulton Park, after taking our first podium at Brands a few weeks ago I’m as confident as I’ve been all year”, he added, “Each time I’m in the car I feel more and more comfortable – I’m really enjoying life as a BTCC driver and can’t wait for the next three races.”
Even though the Cheshire track is situated some 140 miles from Alex’s home, Oulton Park is considered one of his local venues and is a circuit where he has enjoyed great success in the past in the ELF Renault Clio Cup. Just last year, he took a win and a second place finish in the two Clio races which supported the corresponding BTCC event.
Qualifying for the 10th round of the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is currently scheduled to take place at 15.00 on Saturday, 5th June, with all three races – rounds 10, 11 and 12 – set to be contested on Sunday, 6th June, at 12.15, 14.30 and 17.10 respectively. As ever, Freeview, digital satellite and cable channel ITV4 will broadcast live throughout raceday from Oulton Park.