Team VERTU Readies For Snetterton Challenge

22/05/2025 17:38 Share

Team VERTU Readies For Snetterton Challenge

Team VERTU will look to maintain the strong form shown in the opening two rounds of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship season when the series heads for Snetterton this weekend for the third meeting of the campaign.

The EXCELR8-run team goes into the weekend having bagged a top three finish in each of the six races run so far, with Tom Ingram, Tom Chilton and Adam Morgan all having made it onto the podium.

It means all three drivers sit inside the top five in the championship standings as they head to the longest circuit on the calendar, with Team VERTU sitting pretty at the head of the Teams’ Championship.

Although he has yet to taste victory this season, Ingram is best placed of the trio in the standings, sitting five points away from current leader Ash Sutton after five podiums in six starts to kick off his title challenge.

Ingram scored the first ever win for the team at Snetterton back in 2021 and has bagged eleven podium finishes at the venue in the past - a record he will now hope to add to during the weekend ahead.

Should the 2022 champion achieve that feat in at least one of the three races, it will see him reach the landmark of 100 podium finishes in the series, adding his name to a select band of drivers to have achieved that feat.

Having picked up the first win of the season for the team at Donington Park, Chilton holds fourth in the standings going into the weekend as he too looks to build on a solid Snetterton record from years gone by.

The most experienced driver on the grid has a total of eight Snetterton podium finishes to his name and enjoyed a solid weekend last season with a pair of top six finishes.

Having shown strong pace across the opening two rounds in his best opening to a campaign for a number of years, Chilton will now look to try and add to his own podium tally to maintain his early season momentum.

Morgan scored his first podium since joining forces with Team VERTU at Brands Hatch last time out, helping him vault up the standings into fifth spot after a difficult opening round at Donington Park where results didn’t reflect his overall pace.

Like his team-mates, Morgan has also finished on the Snetterton podium in the past and will bid to make the most of the pace in the Hyundai to maintain his promising return to front-wheel drive on the back of a four-year stint in BMW machinery.

The three drivers will all be forced to carry limited turbo boost into the weekend as a result of their championship positions, which is likely to have an impact during qualifying and the opening race of the weekend.

The use of the soft and hard versions of the Goodyear tyre will also have an important role to play in the strategies adopted on race day - should weather conditions remain dry�

This weekend at Snetterton, Ryan Bensley will join the established trio on track as he joins the grid for what will be his BTCC debut at the wheel of the fourth car.

Bensley steps into the car raced by Michael Crees in the opening two rounds at his home circuit chasing three trouble-free races in order to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible from the biggest race weekend of his career to date.

Bensley’s previous experience has included outings in the Civic Sport Cup and TCR UK whilst he also contested the Citroen C1 24 Hour race at Silverstone earlier this month in a team that included now BTCC rivals Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat as well as Sylvain Rubio, the technical director of Swindon Powertrain - the company that builds the engine in the Team VERTU cars.

Tom Chilton, #3 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
“We’re in a really good place with the car and it’s clear to see from the opening two rounds that we have one of the strongest packages on the grid.

“We know that Snetterton is a circuit where the car has gone well in the past and I want to try and get back onto the podium and add some more silverware to my collection – which is certainly achievable.

“I do think this is a circuit where the boost is going to make a big difference when you look at the two long straights, and we also saw at Brands Hatch what impact the two different tyre compounds had.

“Given we have the same choice of tyres for Snetterton, strategy is going to play a big part in how race day pans out, and it will be interesting see what approach people take.”

Adam Morgan, #33 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
"This is the first weekend this season where the weather forecast suggests we could get some rain, which would be a bit interesting when it's been more than four years since I drove a front-wheel drive touring car in the wet!

"It would be a bit of a steep learning curve if it were to happen, but regardless of what the conditions turn out to be, I'm heading to Snetterton feeling really confident given our performances so far. After the disappointment of being forced to retire from the first race of the season, we've come back strongly and our pace at Brands Hatch last time out showed what we are capable of.

"The only downside to the results at Brands Hatch is we now carry a bit less boost into the weekend, but that doesn't change my goal of scoring a good haul of points across the three races to maintain our championship position."

Ryan Bensley, #54 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
"When this opportunity came along and the chance was there to join the BTCC grid, there was only ever one thing I was going to say! I've raced on and off for a long time and the dream has always been to one day appear in the series, and I can't wait for it to now happen.

"I'm under no illusions about what is to come, and it would be unrealistic to think that I can rock up against drivers who have raced in this championship for years and be right on the pace from the start when I've not tested the car before.

"For me, it's all about learning as much as possible and trying to improve across the weekend rather than putting pressure on myself in terms of on-track results. I'm sure that when I get behind the wheel, the competitive side of me will take over and I'll be chasing a lap time or looking to make an overtake, but the main thing is to go out there and enjoy the experience.

"The BTCC is something I would love to do for a full season in the future if the chance was there, so this will be a good opportunity for me to see how I measure up. The reaction to the news has been a bit overwhelming and my phone hasn't stopped ringing, and I have to give a huge thank you has to go to the team and to Michael for allowing me to get out there this weekend."

Tom Ingram, #80 Team VERTU Hyundai i30 Fastback N, said:
“We’ve had a strong start to the season and have shown we have the pace to consistently run at the front, and there is no reason why that won’t continue this weekend.

“It will be difficult to begin with given the low levels of boost we’ll carry into qualifying and race one, so we need to focus on maximising the performance of the car as much as we can to score the best possible results.

“The end goal remains the same as ever, which is to make sure we come away from the three races having picked up as many points as we can.

“With five podiums in six starts, we’ve done that well so far this season but I want to get back onto the top step, and it would be great to do it this weekend.”

Justina Williams, Team VERTU Team Owner, said:
“Snetterton is a circuit where we’ve enjoyed positive results in the past, and hopefully we’ll see more of the same again this weekend when we return for round three.

“In the two meetings so far, we’ve shown fantastic pace across the board and it’s put us in a strong position in the standings, albeit at a very early stage of the year.

“We need to try and maximise our performance again this weekend to put more solid points on the board and maintain our current of form."