Series Rockingham test summary

THOMPSON FASTEST IN ROCKINGHAM TEST AS FORMER F1 STAR HERBERT ALSO APPEARS

Three times Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert took part in today's official HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship test at the Rockingham circuit in Northamptonshire.

Herbert (pictured right) flew in from his home in Monte Carlo to drive Team Dynamics' Honda Civic having starred for the former title-winning squad at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed event.

It is undecided if Herbert will turn his hand to the BTCC with Dynamics but he would surely be a major draw - he is a huge name globally in motor sport having also won the world-famous Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race in addition to three GPs for the Benetton and Stewart teams in the Nineties.

Herbert, who drove the Dynamics car this afternoon, said: "That was great fun and I've seen what these lads get up to during a race so who knows? Let's see... foremost this was just to sample the car after the team asked me at Goodwood if I could do a bit of running to help with development.

"This was my first time on track in a BTCC race car, let alone a front-wheel drive race car, but I'm very impressed with its performance and also the BTCC paddock set-up as a whole."

James Thompson, whose car Herbert set his time in, ultimately ended up with the fastest time during the test with a best lap of 1m25.410s that he set during the morning session. Herbert ended the test 12th fastest with a highly respectable time of 1m26.372s.

For full times and photos from today's test visit the BTCC's official website www.btcc.net

Meanwhile, Rockingham marked the second official BTCC session to be held during the current summer break before the season resumes at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk on Sunday 2 August. After that follow fixtures at Knockhill, Fife (Sun 16 Aug), Silverstone, Northants (Sun 30 Aug), Rockingham, Northants (Sun 20 Sept) and Brands Hatch, Kent (Sun 4 October).

Team RAC BMW driver Colin Turkington, who has never won the BTCC title, currently leads the standings with a 25-point advantage over nearest challenger, Vauxhall's former double champion Matt Neal.

-credit: btcc.net