Tordoff gets first taste of BMW
Sam Tordoff underwent his first BTCC test as a BMW driver yesterday at Brands Hatch, and says racing for the WSR team is a challenge he's looking forward to.
Tordoff has moved to Dick Bennett's squad from MG for 2015, but it won't all be new for him. "I've brought my engineer with me from Triple Eight to give me some continuity in what is otherwise a completely new environment for me," he said, speaking to the Brands Hatch website.. "Obviously the car is different, being rear-wheel-drive compared to front-wheel-drive, and there's a lot of differences in how the team runs and how they operate, so it's a challenge and I'm looking forward to it."
"I wanted to stand on my own two feet," he added. "I'd had two good years at MG and learnt a lot off Jason [Plato], so it was a good time for me to move on, rather than the feeling of getting comfortable in the team and becoming stale. There's nothing better than being given an opportunity to be in a championship-winning car and to drive for Dick Bennetts. It gives me a real opportunity of fighting for a championship next year."
But Tordoff wouldn't be drawn on who his team mates might be for next season, with reigning champion Colin Turkington and former World Champion Andy Priaulx both reported to be in the running for WSR drives.
"I can understand why Colin's done such a good job [in the BMW], but also he's won the championship because he's very good and I think for my benefit I want him in the seat alongside me. I'm not scared of having a quick team-mate - I've had Jason for the last two years, and I think it would bring me on as a driver, so I want Colin to be back. Although if he doesn't, at least we've got his data from last year, so I've got a good starting point there."
"[Having Priaulx as a team mate] would be lovely. I'm not sure whether there's any truth in that rumour, and I don't know Andy personally, but I wouldn't shy away from that at all. He's a factory BMW driver, there's no-one better to learn off than him."
Rob Collard was also at Brands Hatch with the WSR team yesterday, giving passenger rides to members of the media.