James Thompson was able to give his SEAT Sport UK team a few tips for Brands Hatch’s up-coming Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds on 24 September with a secret test at the Kent track recently… in a London taxi!
Thompson put the cab – liveried up in the SEAT team’s colours – through its paces around Brands’ short Indy lay-out for a feature in the latest edition of Britain’s biggest-selling weekly motoring magazine and BTCC media partner Auto Express. He later headed into the London to test its capabilities on the capital’s streets.
The 2002 and 2004 BTCC champion, used to lapping Brands Indy in the 48s bracket in his SEAT Leon racer, managed to get the taxi around in 1m20s…
“I wouldn’t want to go any faster. It’s not the most responsive car I’ve driven and the turn-in is like that of a cross-Channel ferry,” Thompson told the magazine that sells 90,000-plus copies a week.
”The seat actually moves as you corner; it’s a bit like being at sea. There’s a plus side, though – the tight steering lock is useful for getting round hairpins such as Druids.”
SEAT has painted a fleet of London cabs in its BTCC colours in a repeat marketing exercise that won it awards in 2004.
Source and photos at: www.btcc.net
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