Unbelievable return to Silverstone with Hillspeed

With the opening round of the BARC Formula Renault Championship fast approaching (Silverstone National- 22nd April), Michael returned to Silverstone to test with Hillspeed. After an early seat fitting, Michael was instantly on the pace despite never having sat in the car before. ?It was like doing a back-to-back test from when we were here in February; I just picked up where we left off!? The track conditions were very tricky throughout the day with relatively low temperatures and a strong cross wind. ?The track was quite dirty, especially with all the historics running; it never really seemed to rubber in?.

?It was a great learning curve today because the circuit was constantly changing and we had to keep tweaking the setup to suit the changes?. With Michael running in the mid 57s for the majority of the day, the team and Neil Cunningham (driver coach) felt it was unlikely that he would go any quicker without the conditions improving. For the final session, the team put a newer set of tyres on to improve the balance of the car under the tricky conditions. ?Once the tyres came in, the front end was a lot more positive and not so sensitive to the winds?. Michael was getting quicker and quicker throughout the session posting a best time of 57.12 (about 8 tenths faster than the pole time set last year) amongst an extremely consistent run of 57.3s. ?The car felt fantastic towards the end of the session; I think we squeezed everything out of the car today. It was a shame to have so much traffic because I think we could have done a whole stint of low 57s?.

Neil Cunningham and the Hillspeed team were amazed with the times that Michael was able to achieve. Neil Cunningham commented: ?We were looking over the telemetry and I explained that anything under a 57.4 would be insane because the track just isn?t quick enough today! Incredible, I don?t think I could have done a better job today!?

Richard Ollerenshaw (Team Principle) added: ?Michael did an outstanding job today; we knew he would be quick but today was unbelievable! I think it?s the best test day we?ve ever had! I hope we can have Michael in the car for the opening round here at Silverstone?.