Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing and drivers Adam Jones and Dan Eaves made their mark at the opening round of the 2009 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch on Sunday with 6 top ten finishes in the 3 races, with a best of a 5th place for Adam in the opening race.
New team mates Adam Jones and Dan Eaves started the 2009 HiQ MSA BTCC in 10th and 12th places on the grid for the Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing Team. Running 2 beautifully prepared bio-ethanol powered SEAT Leon’s the new team has quickly gelled with the two drivers only a tenth of a second apart at the end of qualifying. The striking yellow and green Cartridge World livery will be easy to spot for fans and competitors alike during the 30 race season.
Dan Eaves on his return to the BTCC said: “It was a good session for me, with a few minutes left I was on a flyer, but ran wide on Graham Hill bend and with dirty tyres I couldn’t push it, otherwise I think we could have had two cars in the top ten”.
After a spirited drive in race one, which saw the safety car out twice, Adam Jones worked his way into a very credible 5th spot using the race craft that saw him take 6 podium finishes last year. Jones had a race long battle with Jason Plato which eventually went the Cartridge World Carbon Zero racers way. Dan Eaves marked his welcomed return to the BTCC with a solid 9th place.
In race two Jones and Eaves, starting from 5th and 9th on the grid, spent most of the 24 lap race barley feet apart and they eventually finished in 7th and 8th positions. Eaves had a strong battle with Harry Vaulkhard, that saw the pair side by side down the hill into Graham Hill Bend on several laps, before Eaves opened up a gap that remained to the finish.
In the third and final race of the day the positions were reversed with Dan Eaves taking 6th place and Adam Jones 7th place, the Cartridge World Carbon Zero pair finishing barley 10 seconds apart.
The new team had much to celebrate at the end of a sunny day in Kent. With six top ten finishes the team has put down a marker for the season as everyone knows there is more to come from the bio-ethanol powered SEAT Leon’s.
Jones, who finished 3rd in the Independent Drivers Championship and 9th in the overall Drivers Championship last season, had this to say before leaving the Kent circuit: “It’s great to be back behind the wheel and I’m delighted to be in a team that has worked so hard to bring the two cars to the grid. The safety car helped me preserve my tyres in race one and I had good pace throughout the race and 5th was a good result”. At the end of round one of the 2009 BTCC Jones is in 6th place in the Drivers Championship and Eaves is in 10th place.
The team has three weeks to reflect on a good opening day in Kent and time to develop their cars before they head south, once again, to Thruxton for round two of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship which will be held at the Hampshire circuit on Sunday April 26th. Cartridge World Carbon Zero Racing in conjunction with co2 balance, the team’s award winning carbon offset partner, is delighted to be able to offer all race fans traveling to the circuit by car, an opportunity to follow the lead set by the team and offset their own car’s CO2 emissions for as little as £2.50. The team is proving in more ways than one that it is determined to leave its mark on the championship and not on the environment!
www.cartridgeworld.com
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