Team Halfords tried a radical new set up for its 307 hot hatches appearance at Silverstone (the renowned Formula 1 circuit) this weekend for rounds 7 and 8 of the Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship.

The Northamptonshire track was packed with spectators as more than 10,000 Halfords free ticket competition winners doubled the crowd attendance. Thousands of fans cheered the drivers on with specially produced orange hands.

Testing and qualifying on Saturday saw marked improvements in the handling of both cars, Carl Breeze was able to run consistently and managed to gather plenty of data for the team’s further development plans. Dan Eaves, despite a delayed entrance to the qualifying session, came out and produced some flying laps. But time was not on his side and he qualified out of his desired top 10, and started Race one from row seven, with his team mate Carl directly behind him.

Race one saw a marked improvement in Dan’s performance, improving his position to 11th overall. He set upon chasing Independent rival Gareth Howell’s 10th position, out manoeuvring manufacture-backed teams such as Honda and Proton. But a broken drive shaft meant he was unable to finish the race.

Race 2 saw another great start for Dan , but on lap three a mistake from Proton’s David Leslie sent him crashing into the circuit wall, putting him well and truly out of the race.

Team Boss Vic Lee comments: ‘Dan’s car has taken a serious shunt, and with all the developments and changes we had made, this is a real knock back for us, but nothing we can’t pick ourselves up from. We will now be working round the clock to get that car ready for Rockingham in two weeks time. It was disappointing not to give Team Halfords fans a better result at Silverstone, but the data shows our times are improving dramatically.’

Disappointingly Carl Breeze was unable to complete Race one due to engine problems which were irreparable for Race Two.

Team Halfords will be back in action at Rockingham Motor Speedway, Corby on Sunday 22nd June for the next BTCC race meeting.