Page 24 - Motorsport News (January 2020)

24 JANUARY 29 2020 motorsport-news.co.uk
INTERVIEW
WHY TOM CHILTON IS READY
TO DELIVER ON THE PROMISE
Matt James talks to one of the BTCC’s most experienced racers, who is eager to land a crown
Chilton will swap to the
BTC Racing Honda Civic
hen the
wraps cameoff
BTC Racing’s
new British
TouringCar
Championship
Wsigning –
quite literally –at Autosport
International,itwasasurprise.Tom
ChiltonhadjumpedfromMotorbase
Performancetoalessexperienced
teamandwillgointo2020aspartof
theambitioussquad’sthree-car
HondaCivicTypeRFK8line-up.
Chiltonhasonlyoneobjectivein2020.
“Itisthetitleorbustforme.Thatiswhat
itisallabout,”hedeclares.
Hewillgethishandsonanewly-built
FK8,andhasbeenimpressedwith
theengineeringstrengthandambition
behindBTC.Chiltonsays:“Imetwith
[jointownerandbusinessman]Steve
DudmanatKnockhilllastyearandhe
toldmethathethoughttheteamwas
nowreadytomoveontothenextlevel
andchallengeforthetitle.Whenyou
findoutabouttheteam,youcansee
thatistrueandthepassionof [joint
owner]BertTaylorissoimpressive.”
The2020seasonwillbeChilton’s
fourthsincereturningtotheseshores,
andheismoredeterminedthanever.
“Theengineersareallinplace,theteam
iseagerforsuccessandIhaveevenbeen
onaweight-lossprogrammesincethe
endof lastyear,”hesays.“Ihavelost
sevenkilosandmytargetis14.Iwant
everythingtobejustright.”
The34-year-oldknowswhatittakes
toputtogetherawinningprogramme.
Chiltonhasalonghistoryintin-top
racing,stretchingbacktohimbeing
thethen-youngestpersontocontest
theBTCCwhenhejoinedBarwell
Chilton has been impressed by the facilities at BTC’s Brackley workshop
MotorsportinaVauxhallAstraCoupe
in 2002 for his maiden campaign. That
was the start of a 10-year stay in the
category which provided 12 wins and the
Independents Trophy at the wheel of
an Arena-run LPG-powered Ford Focus.
After that, the team switched to the
World Touring Car Championship
and Chilton took seven victories on the
big stage. The highlight of his global
adventure was the Independents
Trophy in 2017 in a Sebastien Loeb
Racing-run Citroen C-Elysee.
The seismic change in the
World Touring Car rules, when the
championship adopted TCR regulations
in 2018, meant the end of the road for
Chilton and his travels.
“The TC1 cars that were used in the
category up until the end of 2017 were
the best touring cars I have ever driven,”
Advertising enquiries: 0203 405 8110
done before. There were advances for me Chilton puts down to a pre-season test
to make, things for me to improve on. It programme that sent them off course.
was a real chapter in my racing education. He says: “We tried lots of new things on
“But, when the WTCC swapped to TCR the car, but we hadn’t back-to-backed
machines I could see the writing on the them with the old car and we might have
wall. There are too many performance gone down a few blind alleys. The car
changes with ballast, balance of power was old and it showed its age, although
and ride-height changes. Look at the when the track was wet, we were able
Lynk & Co team in WTCR in 2019: it has to make up for any deficiencies.”
the very best in terms of drivers and And it was that frustration which has
engineers, and even that couldn’t win led him to seek new pastures in 2020
the drivers’ title. Something is not right with BTC Racing. Chilton will keep
when that happens, and I didn’t want to working with his engineer from the past
be part of that.” six seasons, Nick Silvester, and he has
In Chilton’s final season in the WTCC already been impressed with the set-up.
in 2017, he dovetailed his commitments “The workshop is as good as any factory
with a return to the BTCC in the new team I have ever been to,” says Chilton.
Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra, “And the desire in the team is huge.
which meant he took nearly 50 race The Honda has shown itself to be the
starts in that one year. only car out there that can be a match for
“When I knew TCR was coming, I the WSR BMWs, and so I simply had to
wanted to go back to my bread and butter. get in one. My one will be the newest
[BTCC chief executive] Alan Gow put chassis on the grid, which is just what I
explainsChilton.“Itwasanamazing me in touch with Power Maxed, and that wanted. So the BTC deal really represents
championship with some great drivers was it, I was back,” explains Chilton. everything I could have wanted.”
and friends, and we went to some amazing A podium finish at the maiden round Chilton’s impact on the team, which
places. Some of the places we raced at flattered to deceive a little in the brand will also run last year’s fourth-place
were about being brave, which I love: new programme, which left him 15th in finisher Josh Cook and Michael Crees
skimming the barriers with your wing the standings (and he had been forced to in its expanded line-up, is not lost on
mirrors at 140mph really made me come miss three rounds due to an operation). team chief Taylor.
alive. I love the bits that might scare For 2018, he jumped into the Motorbase “Just look at the experience Tom
other drivers. I was in a debrief room Performance team in its Ford Focus has,” he explains. “We are buying into
with people like Sebastien Loeb, Rob machines. “It was a commercial almost two decades of knowledge at
Huff and Yvan Muller and I could see decision,” explains Chilton. “It is a team the front of the BTCC grid, and we are
where I was faster than them. It really that has been around the BTCC for a going to be tapping into that. Tom has
pushed me, and I loved that. I needed a while and had a good founding, so I the desire to put it all together for a
fresh challenge after having done the expected a lot. That first season was championship assault, and that is the
BTCC for so long, and it motivated me. fantastic. We were on the pace and we same position that the team is in. This
“I thought I had done everything I could went into the final round of the year is going to be a beneficial relationship
in terms of learning how to drive a saloon with a chance of the overall title. But we all round. We can hopefully give Tom
car quickly. But then you sit in and learn came up just short, although six podiums the tools to fight for the overall title,
from drivers like that. I switched my and one win was a good return.” and that is going to help the team
driving style and learned how to left-foot That relationship became increasingly move another step forward too.
brake, which is something that I hadn’t more frustrating in 2019, which It is a dream situation.” n