Roscrea's Nicole Drought will test TCR Touring Car at Oulton Park

Having made her 2021 debut at Silverstone last weekend, joining Team Dynamics for the 24 Hour C1 race, Roscrea Rocket Nicole Drought will travel to Oulton Park in Cheshire later this week to test a TCR Touring car for the first time, ahead of a proposed return to the Britcar Endurance Championship later this month.
 

A three time class winner in the Britcar series in 2020, Nicole had not raced in 2021 until Silverstone last weekend. The team had a few issues with their newly built car and the six driver squad only managed to qualify 50th on the grid.

Nicole boosted their hopes just before the race though by posting 11th fastest time in the warm up, having made a few setup changes beforehand.

As fastest driver, she started the race and charged from 50th to 29th before pitting two hours later. Unfortunately though, luck was not smiling on the team and a fuel pump failure meant a tow back to the pits and an associated three lap penalty.

This, allied to some damage sustained during the night and a few other issues, dropped them down the order once again and they eventually crossed the line in 41st place.

This weekend Nicole will experience a slight increase in power, going from the 70bbp of the little Citroen C1 to almost 350bhp in the Motus One Cupra Leon TCR. The car will be a little different to the Porsche 718 she campaigned in 2020, but having previously taken wins in a Honda Integra and the C1 Challenge, she is relishing the chance to return to front wheel drive.

"Silverstone was great for a number of reasons", Nicole told TipperaryLive.

"To meet and race with the Team Dynamics crew was amazing and of course, I loved being back behind the wheel again. It's back to business this weekend though and once again, I can't wait.

"Oulton Park was probably where it all clicked for me last year in terms of pace, so I'll always be a fan of the track. Also, I'm excited at the prospect of testing a TCR car for the first time.

"I visited Motus One at Silverstone recently and checked out the car. I've been lucky enough to drive many different cars over the last few years and to jump behind the wheel of a factory built Touring Car is definitely another box ticked", Nicole said.