K&N Supported Team Aon Keeps Championships Hopes Alive
- 6 Oct 2010
Early in the season the race organizers felt that their LPG powered, turbocharged Ford Focuses had an excessive advantage over everyone else with regard to acceleration and straight line speed. They therefore ruled that the team had to fit a smaller air restrictor to their engine, limiting the amount of fuel/air mixture we can get into the engine at any time.
The team was also required to add "success ballast" in order to even their cars overall weight (the BTCC requires success ballast of other teams as well, based on their success). Still here they are, right in the thick of things. Team Aon refuses to be deterred, even by a spectacular six car incident at the tight chicane at the end of the Donington Park circuit. Championship points leader Jason Plato's race was over on the spot with his car wedged into the barrier. Team Aon's Onslow-Cole sustained heavy damage, but was able to continue. Onslow-Cole was leading the race at the time. "The first race was a struggle, one nudge and we went backwards from P1," commented Onslow-Cole. "In the end I was quite happy to get the car home as we sustained quite a lot of damage. Race two was a fantastic result, one of my wins coming through from eighth. Sadly we couldn't end the day on another high as the success ballast meant we struggled with the car in race three. We're 24 points behind Jason (Plato) now going into the final, which is do-able, but as always it will be very tough." Race two of the day saw a spectacular drive from Onslow-Cole, following his frustrating race one. Coming from eighth on the grid, Onslow-Cole perfectly balanced aggression and speed to cross the line in third at the end of the first lap, and then winning the race. Tom Chilton struggled with the handling of his car, after having to carry an additional 36 kilos (78 lbs) of success ballast following his second place finish in race one, he still managed to bring the car home in fourth to add to his championship tally. "Three points finishes for me today, but I had hoped for more after securing pole position yesterday," said Chilton. "I struggled with the car on the brakes all day and so didn't gain as many points as we would have liked. That is the way it goes sometimes though, the BTCC is an ultra-competitive series and today proved that." Mike Earle, Team Principal summed it up this way, "It was a weekend of mixed fortunes and we are slightly disappointed. Having had both cars on the front of the grid from qualifying, we didn't quite get the points haul we had hoped for. Onslow-Cole's win was obviously the highlight of the day. This weekend has demonstrated that we still have some work to do on the set-up of the car when it is carrying success ballast. The Brands Hatch finale will be what it will be, we'll go there and give it our best shot, the car was strong there at the start of the season and so fingers crossed we can push Jason all the way to the end." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
