SWINDON’S HMS Racing and driver Alex Day posted a best result of fourth place when Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent hosted the penultimate two races of the Dunlop Touring Car Trophy season on Sunday.

With the previous two events at Croft and Donington Park having been blighted by a recurring misfire problem, HMS has left no stone unturned in trying to solve the issue and their Audi A4 touring car performed reliably and competitively at Brands.

Day said: “Brands Hatch isn’t a rear-wheel drive circuit really, so we knew it was going to be a challenge this weekend, but we gave it our best.

“The team has worked really hard over the past few weeks resolving the electrical issue we had at the previous two events, and they’ve been successful as we had a reliable car throughout at Brands and two good finishes.”

Practice and qualifying on Saturday were both wet, and after lapping seventh fastest in the former, Day went on to circulate sixth quickest in the grid-determining session, leaving work to do in the races.

Conditions were dramatically improved for Sunday’s action, and at the start of race one, Day made a storming launch from the third row of the grid to almost get alongside the battle for third.

The HMS driver wasn’t able to capitalise after being forced wide and he rejoined the track in sixth. After slipping behind Lewis Kent on lap two, Day stayed in touch with the Hyundai driver as he closed on the Opel of Darelle Wilson and on lap four, Kent went through meaning Day’s new target was the green Astra.

Pressuring into lap five, the Audi got a good run and duly took sixth place. Staying there to the final lap, Day was then able to pass Kent on the drag to the finish line after the Hyundai had started to drop back late on.

Starting race two from fifth on the grid, the HMS Audi again launched well but a bid for fourth wasn’t possible so Day maintained position for the first few laps, running closely behind Stewart Lines’ SEAT Cupra.

On the sixth tour, Kent was able to get ahead of the Audi to drop Day to sixth, and the Hyundai soon passed Lines.

Into the second half of the race, Day was right with the latter and on lap 17, he pounced to re-take fifth when Lines went slightly wide.

Not finished there, Day closed down Nick Halstead’s Honda Civic and after pressuring nicely on lap 24, he made a successful pass for fourth on the inside to seal his best finish of the weekend.

Notably, Day’s best lap of 50.125 seconds was within just 0.2 seconds of race winner James Turkington’s fastest effort.

Reflecting on the Brands Hatch weekend, HMS Racing team principal Simon Belcher said: “It was a shame to miss out on a return to the TCT podium, but we’re pleased Alex achieved two good results and also had some strong race pace.

“Everyone at the team has worked very hard to try and resolve the issue from Donington and Croft, so to give Alex a reliable and consistent car this weekend was important. All in all it’s been a fairly satisfying weekend, but we’re hungry to get back on the podium before the end of the season.”

The TCT series concludes in October at Donington Park.