Team RAC completed a successful testing session at Brands Hatch this afternoon, eleven days before the season's opener, which takes place at the Kent circuit on 9 April.

With the MG ZS having been developed over the close season, Brands Hatch was the first opportunity for the Colin Turkington and Rob Collard to put the car through its paces.

Rob Collard posted the fourth fastest lap time of 49.505s during the afternoon's session where the top four were separated by just .13 of a second. Working on improving the set-up from previous outings at Brands Hatch, Team RAC and WSR now have the advantage of being able to compare data, after competing with only one car in 2005. Rob said: "The car feels really sharp following the work that Team RAC and EDL have carried out over the winter. The weather conditions were pretty changeable today but I'm pleased with my performance. The car ran for the majority of the afternoon with only a couple of minor problems. Overall the team is working well and I'm very happy."

The focus of Colin Turkington's afternoon was to test a number of WSR's engineering developments from the winter programme. On completing the test Colin said: "It's grand to be back in the MG and today has been about testing new parts and deciding which direction to take. It's been a really productive day and we'll now sit down and go through the data. I'm looking forward to some further testing later this week and today has certainly blown the cobwebs away!"

Team RAC Principal, Dick Bennetts added: "We ran with new development parts on Colin's car and decided against fresh tyres. With Rob we ran with a familiar set-up and with some new rubber later in the session we were able to improve on pace. We're pretty pleased with the results but there's room for improvement. It's always difficult to know the tactics of the other teams but we'll continue testing and I'm sure the lap times will be quicker come April 9th."

The fastest lap of the day, 49.371s, was recorded by 2005 BTCC Champion Matt Neal (Team Halfords).