Team Halfords have shown another mark of progress in their development of the team’s new model Peugeot 307 touring car. Both drivers improved on their times while also adding points to their tally as the Halfords hot hatches took to the track for rounds five and six of the Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).

Thruxton race circuit in Hampshire, the fastest circuit on the BTCC calendar, is known for being both mentally and physically demanding on the drivers due to its set-up diversity. This is the circuit all drivers love to hate!

Both cars made a great start in Race 1 challenging Gavin Pyper in his Vauxhall Astra Coupe (their main rival in the Independents Cup). By lap two Dan had accelerated past Pyper into first position for the Independents cup and seventh position overall. However, a delayed pit stop saw both Team Halfords drivers drop a couple of places, leaving the number 0 car to cross the chequered flag in second for the Independents Cup and ninth position overall, closely followed by the number 10 car of team mate Carl Breeze.

Dan Eaves commented: ‘Its really motivating to feel the cars getting better the more we drive them, but at the same time we have had a few problems that have crept out of the woodwork. That’s all part of the process when you’re developing a new model, and I know this car is going to be really competitive so we accept the good with the bad.’

Race two saw Carl’s Peugeot struck with a persistent electrical problem resulting in an early retirement. Dan’s car, left with suspension damage, the result of an earlier collision with Protons Phil Bennett, was also forced to retire early from the race.

Vic Lee, Team Principle commented: ‘We are still in the early stages of developing the cars, so teething problems, whilst frustrating, are to be expected. We are setting ourselves a tough schedule though, we are off to Silverstone testing on Tuesday 27th May, so we can so we can continue to improve the performance of both the cars and the drivers.’