Here are some photos and video footage from the BTCC Media Day at Brands Hatch

Matt Hamilton approaching Druids

Dave Pinkney approaching Druids

Amd Milltek Racing

Team Aon

Jason Plato

3 drivers for West Surrey Racing WSR?

More photos are available here (Flickr)

Video content available soon.

Photos: Andrew Calder

Touring Car veteran Jason Plato topped testing at the first official test day of the 2010 BTCC season. Driving the new Chevrolet Cruze he produced a laptime of 48.662s on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Gordon Shedden was second quickest overall in the Honda Civic and Tom Chilton was third for Team Aon.

A couple of hours before the pitlane opened, the BTCC announced a 23 car entry for its 2010 season.

• New works teams in the form of Honda Racing and Silverline Chevrolet (new Cruze car)
• Triple 8 included on the list, but with drivers ‘TBA’. Team to use Vauxhall Vectras
• 2009 champion Colin Turkington not on the list. Rumours of lack of sponsorship, but name did appear on the WSR team’s truck.
• New teams in the form of Forster Motorsport (BMWs), Central Group Racing (Honda Integra) and AmD Milltek Racing (VW Golf)
• Full entry list available here.

The test day (BTCC Media Day) took the format of two 3 hour sessions. The morning session starting at 10am and the second session starting at 2pm. A number of laptimes in the sessions were quicker than the qualifying/race lap records of last year, though this is due in part to the newly resurfaced Brands Hatch circuit and the new Dunlop tyre. In both sessions, the two Team Aon Fords (Tom Onslow-Cole and Tom Chilton) were the quickest recorded on the speed traps.

Morning session:
Steven Kane topped the timesheets for the morning session with a 48.821. Second fastest was the Ford Focus of Tom Chilton who posted a time of 48.854. Third fastest was Honda Racing’s Gordon Sheddon with a 48.907.  A steering fault caused Jason Plato to sit out the first session of the day.

Afternoon session:
The afternoon session started with damp conditions and the teams waited a while before sending their cars out. Eventually, the repaired Chevrolet Cruze of Jason Plato was fastest with a time of 48.662. Gordon Shedden and Tom Chilton continued their strong form from the morning session with laptimes of 48.817 and 48.829 respectively.

A full list of the times is available from TSL timings.

Stay tuned for a preview of the 2010 BTCC season.