BTCC Testing at Knockhill: Aiello Fastest
14 August 1999
Knockhill Circuit, Scotland - Friday, 13 August 1999Weather: wet am, brighter pm
Laurent Aiello has never been to Scotland before, but the Nissan driver showed today why he is a red-hot favourite to claim this year's Auto Trader British Touring Car Championship drivers' crown. The Frenchman produced the fastest time of the day in official testing for this weekend's meeting at the Knockhill circuit, near Edinburgh, to dash any hopes his rivals may have had that an unfamiliar circuit could provide an opportunity to narrow Aiello's lead.
"The circuit is quite short and I think I know it pretty well now," said Aiello after completing 90 laps of the narrow Fife track. "I am still having problems with the chicane - it's not easy to find the right line through there and I think it is costing me time against the others, so I will have to improve that during the weekend. I have a very good car at the moment, so I am confident for tomorrow's qualifying, but you really only have one flying lap to set a time. With that kind of pressure it is not difficult to make mistakes."
James Thompson is the man most likely to upset the Aiello victory march and the Honda driver today set the second fastest time, trailing the Nissan by less than a tenth of a second, despite spending much of the morning with his car in the garage. Thompson knows that two good races at Knockhill could rekindle his championship aspirations and the Accord looks to be well suited to the twisty layout.
"With three Hondas on the top six, you'd have to say the car is going well," confirmed Thompson, with reference to team mates Peter Kox and BTCC returnee Gabriele Tarquini. "Considering the time we lost this morning, I am reasonably happy with the progress we have made, but I really wanted to be ahead of Laurent."
After two qualifying sessions tomorrow (Saturday) rounds 19 & 20 of the BTCC will take place at Knockhill on Sunday (Aug 15).
TOP TEN TIMES FROM KNOCKHILL CIRCUIT
1. Laurent Aiello (Fra) Nissan Primera 52.474sec 89.19mph 2. James Thompson (GB) Honda Accord 52.568s 3. Rickard Rydell (Swe) Volvo S40 52.682s 4. Peter Kox (Hol) Honda Accord 52.747s 5. David Leslie (GB) Nissan Primera 52.821s 6. Gabriele Tarquini (Ita) Honda Accord 52.860s 7. Anthony Reid (GB) Ford Mondeo 52.925s 8. Alain Menu (Swi) Ford Mondeo 52.952s 9. Jason Plato (GB) Renault Laguna 53.045s 10. J-C Boullion (Fra) Renault Laguna 53.088s
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