Top 12 pour le Team Aon avec leur Focus WTCC à Valence.
Top 12 finish for Team Aon
Team Aon, operated by Arena, have finished the first race of the Spanish round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship in an impressive twelfth position, with James Nash at the wheel of his Ford Focus, and nineteenth for Tom Chilton. The second race of the weekend provided a top fifteen position for Chilton while Nash sustained damage whilst running eleventh resulting in a subsequent race retirement.
After a short warm up session in the morning, the WTCC action got under way with the rolling start of race one. Nash immediately made up a handful of places and found himself in thirteenth, Chilton was also on the move and had already gained three places off the start line however the Brit was caught up in an incident on turn five which left him pushed out wide, therefore undoing his hard work.
By the end of the first lap Nash was all over the back Tiago Monteiro ready to make an overtaking manoeuvre however the Team Aon driver was unable to find a way past and instead settled into his race position. Meanwhile Chilton had made his way past the BMW of Charles Ng and was beginning to join the battle ahead with Isaac Tutumlu and Fernando Monje.
A pit stop from Aleksei Dudukalo elevated Nash up to eleventh position however he had a hard chasing Alberto Cerqui just behind him – the Team Aon driver was doing a great job to hold his position and keep other drivers fighting behind him.
Chilton was still battling with Monje and Tutumlu and after piling on the pressure was able to pass the Seat of Monje. As the chequered flag fell, Nash finished in a very strong twelfth position while Chilton was still fighting until the end to finish 19th.
The second race of the weekend featured the standing start and saw both Team Aon drivers start in the same position as the earlier race. Both Nash and Chilton had clean getaways and managed to successfully avoid the stalled car of Dudukalo. By the end of the first lap Nash was up to 12th and Chilton 18th.
Nash brilliantly overtook Monteiro going into the second lap and quickly started to put the pressure on O Young – with the Team Aon driver soon making his way through when the Seat took to the pits with a problem. All the while Chilton was pressuring Sabitino and looking for space to overtake.
As both Team Aon drivers settled into their rhythm, Chilton began to catch the pack in front of him, hoping to take advantage of the ensuing action; he found his opportunity on lap seven with an overtake on Sabitino.
Unfortunately for Nash he was caught up in an incident which, despite his best efforts, left his Ford Focus with damage meaning he was unable to complete the race. The Team Aon driver had been running in eleventh at the time. Nash’s retirement elevated Chilton up to 15th as the race came to its conclusion.
Reflecting on the weekend Nash said, ‘It’s clear that we’re making progress with the Ford Focus – we’ve had a bit of bad luck with the race damage from race two however you can see from our race one result that the car has the race pace. Finishing in the top 12 is a great feeling; we’re getting closer to the top 10 which is really positive.”
Chilton added, ‘I really enjoy driving this car, the progress we’ve made over the past few weeks has definitely shown. I had a couple of very unlucky races, which obviously wasn’t helped by my qualifying position. But I’m feeling confident in the car so I’m looking forward to Marrakech.’
