Tordoff: I couldn’t have asked for anymore

Sam Tordoff is heading into next weekend's British Touring Car Championship season opener full of confidence after rounding out a promising pre-season testing programme with the fastest time at the Brands Hatch test.

Tordoff has moved from the Motorbase Performance stable to the AmD Tuning outfit for the 2019 season and the 2016 BTCC runner-up marked his first official appearance in the Honda Civic Type R by topping both sessions in yesterday's pre-season test day at Brands Hatch.

The 29-year old dipped under the existing lap record around the Indy circuit after setting a 47.927s lap time ahead of his 2018 team mate Tom Chilton in second position.

“I’m really happy with how today went. It’s been a great day. We knew this car was good. We’ve been fast in testing all year, but it’s nice to come here in front of everyone else and assess where we really are on the grid," said Tordoff.

“It’s the first time that I’ve been fastest in both the morning and afternoon sessions. It’s a good omen to start the season off. I’m very confident ahead of next week’s opening round. We have a good indication of where were going to be for the first race, and it’s very promising."

As well as running the two TradePriceCars.com Audi S3 machines, AmD have switched to Honda machinery for the first time this season and Tordoff believes Shaun Hollamby's outfit can arrive at the season opener 'with very different expectations' following a promising pre-season programme.

“I couldn’t have asked for anymore. Big thanks to the Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance team. They’ve worked really hard this winter and we’re going to arrive with very different expectations of what’s possible."

The BTCC kicks off with its traditional season opener at Brands Hatch next weekend.