Richard Marsh’s Bio-fuelled Peugeot qualifies in top 20 for Silverstone BTCC.

Team Farécla driver Richard Marsh is celebrating a trouble-free practice and qualifying day at Silverstone, in the run-up to the final races of this season’s British Touring Car Championship. The bright yellow Peugeot 307 will line up on the grid for Round 28, in 20th place of the 26 cars entered

With a new Judd-prepared engine in his car for this weekend’s Silverstone BTCC climax and now running on eco-friendly Bio-Fuel for the first time, Richard gave a glimpse of his true potential during both of this morning’s free practice sessions. The Peugeot ran comfortably inside the top twenty – despite Richard’s pre-event worries that the car might struggle at such a quick track, where the emphasis is firmly on power.

“You can really feel the difference with this new engine,” enthused the Derbyshire driver, “for the first time this season I actually feel we are a match for most of the other true Independents in BTCC. At long last I can actually get in the tow off the fastest cars and not have them simply pull away from me!”

In afternoon qualifying, Richard’s times improved as the session progressed and his fastest time of the day was his last flying lap. “I drove my best lap when the tyres were in their worst condition, so there would undoubtedly have been some more to come out of the car. Therefore, all in all, I’m pretty satisfied with the way its gone.”

Marsh is optimistic about race day.

“At last I’m really enjoying driving the car. We’re right in the thick of things after qualifying and we’ve certainly given a fair few of our rivals something to think about - in a car that’s probably not at its best on a power circuit like Silverstone. Come tomorrow, I’ll try and stay clear of any trouble in the first race, see where we end up and then, hopefully, take it on from there.”