btcc:action >> Drivers >> Tom Chilton
Chilton's 2002 season with Barwell motorsport was enough to impress many people in the BTCC, as he managed to score a podium in his first ever race at Brands Hatch. He eventually finished the season with an impressive 5th place in the Independent's Cup and secured a drive with the works Honda squad for 2003, the team run by Arena International.
Works support was withdrawn from the Arena International team for 2004 so the team continued with only the one car and a continually maturing Chilton. It was during this season that Chilton became the youngest-ever winner in the BTCC, being victorious first at Silverstone then again at Donington Park. He would continue to win in the 2005 season which he only part-contested, after missing the first 3 rounds due to plans to compete in the DTM which fell through, scoring an impressive 4 wins and finishing 5th overall (also missing the final 3 rounds of the year, making it an even more impressive achievement). His results from 2005 were enough to convince VX Racing to sign him on as a Works driver for the 2006 season.
In the end, Chilton's 2006 results were disappointing. Despite the new Astra Sport Hatch not being as good as the previous Astra BTCC-racer, Chilton failed to score a single race win whilst his team-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi scored two wins. Despite finishing 7th overall in the championship, Vauxhall decided to keep Chilton on for the 2007 campaign to race the new Vectra. Chilton failed again to score a race win in 2007 as team mate Giovanardi found his stride in the BTCC and took 10 wins in the same car. Chilton's preference for a shorter wheelbase car showed as he struggled with the large Vectra, and by the end of the year he was 9th in the Drivers championship and heading to Team Dynamics for 2008.
Tom Chilton
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Nationality: English Date of birth: 15 March 1985 Place of birth: Surrey, England Status: Single Website: www.tomchilton.com BTCC Debut: Brands Hatch, 1 April 2002, Barwell Motorsport, Vauxhall Astra Coupe BTCC Races: 169* BTCC Wins: 6* BTCC Points: 724* * after Round 15 2008 |
| Tom Chilton began his motor racing career by competing in the BRSCC T-Cars Championship. It was by racing in this series that he honed his racing technique before stepping up to the BTCC in 2002 to become the series' youngest ever competitor at the age of 17. Indeed he was racing in Britain's Premier Motorsport Championship before he even had a licence to drive on the road! |
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Works support was withdrawn from the Arena International team for 2004 so the team continued with only the one car and a continually maturing Chilton. It was during this season that Chilton became the youngest-ever winner in the BTCC, being victorious first at Silverstone then again at Donington Park. He would continue to win in the 2005 season which he only part-contested, after missing the first 3 rounds due to plans to compete in the DTM which fell through, scoring an impressive 4 wins and finishing 5th overall (also missing the final 3 rounds of the year, making it an even more impressive achievement). His results from 2005 were enough to convince VX Racing to sign him on as a Works driver for the 2006 season.
In the end, Chilton's 2006 results were disappointing. Despite the new Astra Sport Hatch not being as good as the previous Astra BTCC-racer, Chilton failed to score a single race win whilst his team-mate Fabrizio Giovanardi scored two wins. Despite finishing 7th overall in the championship, Vauxhall decided to keep Chilton on for the 2007 campaign to race the new Vectra. Chilton failed again to score a race win in 2007 as team mate Giovanardi found his stride in the BTCC and took 10 wins in the same car. Chilton's preference for a shorter wheelbase car showed as he struggled with the large Vectra, and by the end of the year he was 9th in the Drivers championship and heading to Team Dynamics for 2008.
| Left: Tom Chilton racing as the only Arena Motorsports Honda entry in the 2004 BTCC at Mondello Park. |
Career Rundown
| 2008: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Halfords, Honda Civic |
| 2007: | British Touring Car Championship, VX Racing, Vauxhall Vectra 9th overall |
| 2006: | British Touring Car Championship, VX Racing, Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch 7th overall |
| 2005: | British Touring Car Championship, Arena International Motorsports, Honda Civic Type-R 5th overall, 4 wins LMES, Zytek Team, 6th overall, 1 win ALMS, Zytek Team, 8th overall, 1 win |
| 2004: | British Touring Car Championship, Arena International Motorsports, Honda Civic Type-R 9th overall, 2 wins |
| 2003: | British Touring Car Championship, Honda Racing, Honda Civic Type-R 9th overall |
| 2002: | British Touring Car Championship, Barwell Motorsport, Vauxhall Astra Coupe 15th overall, finishes on podium at Brands Hatch in first race, aged 17 |
| 2001: | BRSCC T-Cars Championship 3rd overall, 7 wins Winter Saloon Car Championship Champion, Class C |
| 2000: | Winter GT Championship 3rd overall BRSCC T-Cars Championship 3rd overall |
| 1999: | BRSCC T-Cars Championship Six races only |
| Archive categories: |  |
Drivers Championship
Final 2008 Standings| Pos. | Driver | Pts |
| 1. | F Giovanardi | 262 |
| 2. | Mat Jackson | 226 |
| 3. | Jason Plato | 223 |
| 4. | Colin Turkington | 212 |
| 5. | Matt Neal | 185 |
| 6. | T Onslow-Cole | 170 |
| 7. | Gordon Shedden | 144 |
| 8. | Darren Turner | 133 |
| 9. | Adam Jones | 119 |
| 10. | Tom Chilton | 107 |
| 11. | Steven Kane | 86 |
| 12. | Robert Collard | 84 |
| 13. | Andrew Jordan | 56 |
| 14. | Mike Jordan | 34 |
| 15. | Stephen Jelley | 14 |
| 16. | Michael Doyle | 5 |
| 17. | Matt Allison | 3 |
| 17. | Chris Stockton | 3 |
| 19. | Harry Vaulkhard | 2 |
| 19. | Jason Hughes | 2 |
| 21. | Erkut Kizilirmak | 1 |
| 21. | John George | 1 |
Manufacturer's C'ship
| Pos. | Make | Pts |
| 1. | Vauxhall | 697 |
| 2. | Seat | 545 |
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