BROWN BROTHERS SPONSORED DRIVER AIDEN MOFFAT FINISHES IN THE TOP 10 AT SNETTERTON
8/08/16
Following the long summer break, BTCC Driver Aiden Moffat was hopeful for a successful race weekend at Snetterton in Norfolk. The Snetterton Circuit, famous for its combination of long straights, wide variety of turns and known amongst drivers as one of the narrowest, was sure to be an exciting watch for spectators.
Qualifying
The main qualifying session took place late on into the afternoon following two practice sessions earlier on in the day. Aiden took the opportunity in the practice sessions to get a hold on the variety of turns and make the most of the fast straight down the back of the circuit. Gordon Shedden took pole position, setting the fastest lap at 1 minute 55.6 seconds. With Aiden completing a quickest lap time of 1 minute 56.6 seconds, with just one second off the pace it was going to be a close race with Aiden starting the first race in 14th position.
Race Day
The first of three races started later than expected at 11:45 with Colin Turkington pipping Gordon Shedden to the finish line to record his third BTCC win of the year. Following a 30 second penalty the Mercedes Benz A-Class driver Aiden Moffat crossed the line in 23rd position.
Shaking off the result from race one, race two started mid-afternoon with Mat Jackson sensationally leading the first start after muscling his way past pole-sitter Turkington. But no sooner had the leading pack negotiated the first sequence of corners, a huge multi-car incident - involving Dan Welch, Ollie Jackson, Hunter Abbott and Ashley Sutton - brought out an immediate red flag. This in turn meant the race underwent a full restart - to the reduced distance of 10 laps - back to the original grid order as the red flag fell before the pack could complete the first lap.
Despite the varied tyre strategies being played out at the front, the lap times between the front three, now comprising of Jackson, Turkington and Neal remained constant with Aiden just missing out on a top ten spot finishing just behind Rob Austin in 11th place.
Race three had a shocking start with an ITV cameraman escaping major injury following an incident which saw Hunter Abbott’s Chevrolet summersault from the grid start into the manned television stand. The incident, unsurprisingly, triggered an immediate red flag.
The re-started race saw Gordon Sheddan take his first win since Brands Hatch after passing Rob Collard’s BMW on the final lap of the afternoon. Following the re-start of the race Aiden took a couple of place off the grid coming to a brilliant finish in 8th position behind Adam Morgan.
A massive well done to Aiden for finishing the day in the top 10 and more importantly avoiding any injury from what can only be described as an exhilarating weekend of racing. Good luck for rounds 19, 20 & 21 held at Knockhill in August.
