MAX HALL TALLIES DOUBLE POINTS FINISH ON BTCC DEBUT

Max Hall made an instant impression on his Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship debut at Donington Park this past weekend (April 26-27) as he powered his way to a brace of points finishes.

Making his eagerly-anticipated graduation to the UK’s premier motor racing series with Un-Limited Motorsport, the 18-year-old showcased his talents by going wheel-to-wheel with some of the BTCC’s best on his way to two top-15 finishes.

After lighting up the timesheets in pre-season testing, the Cupra driver endured a rather frustrating Saturday at the Leicestershire venue as both he and team were left scratching their heads as they suffered severe braking issues - something that would continue from practice and right the way through the whole weekend.

Unable to extract the maximum out of his front-wheel-drive machine in qualifying, Hall lined up 22nd for the opening contest of the new campaign.

Taking centre stage in front of a packed trackside audience and many more watching on ITV, the talented teenager got his elbows out and fought his way up the order in race one to take the chequered flag in 14th.

Hall would go one place better in race two as he added more points to his tally with a drive to 13th. In what proved to be an action-packed encounter, the rookie showed his fighting spirit as he enjoyed a number of battles - one of which was against three-time champion Gordon Shedden.

The weekend’s third and final bout followed a similar theme to the two that had gone before it with more close-quarter racing resulting in Hall crossing the line in 20th.

Leaving Donington Park, Hall sits third in the Jack Sears Trophy and fourth in the Independent Drivers’ Championship.

Max Hall: “That’s my first full weekend in the BTCC done and wow, what an experience! It’s been a baptism of fire but I really enjoyed every second of it and importantly, I’ve learnt a huge amount.

“Given our pace in testing I went into the weekend confident that we could mix it inside the top ten but for some reason all three cars in the team struggled for pace, which made Saturday tough. We certainly made the best of what we had in the end.

“The team found something overnight in the data and race day was better. The BTCC is unlike anything else and it will take a little while to get used to how relentless everything is - from the schedule of the day to the action on-track.

“That being said I had some good battles out there and managed to pick up my first few points. Now that I’ve got this weekend under my belt, and if we can find a bit more out of the car, I reckon we can go even better at Brands Hatch next time out.”

The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship continues in less than two weeks’ time at Brands Hatch on May 10-11.