Kelvin Fletcher: “I’ve got nothing to prove”

An alternator problem hampered Kelvin Fletcher’s debut BTCC session, only managing 16 laps during the 40 minute FP1 and ending 29th out of 31 drivers.

The Power Maxed Racing rookie, and Emmerdale actor, said that he had no real goals for the weekend, having his first laps behind the wheel in FP1 and just taking each session as it comes.

“That was the first time I’ve been in the car so naturally I was slightly anxious,” Fletcher told TouringCarTimes. “It was great to get a couple of laps under my belt, and took it really easy to get a feel for it. I didn’t push enough to try to compare the specifics, but the car feels alright but it was tough with the traffic and the urgency of the other drivers.

“I went out for about five laps, came back in and we had some alternator problems so the guys had to change an alternator, that only left me ten minutes at the end. By then I’m going out with cold tyres and everyone’s up to speed so it was more of a case of staying out of everyone’s way. Got a bit of a feel for the car and we’ll build on that for free practice two.”

Fletcher also stated that this weekend would not be a true reflection of his attributes as a driver and is not putting any pressure on himself to get any specific results from his first BTCC meeting.

“Naturally I want to just keep on improving,” continued Fletcher. “I certainly want to see the times keep coming down the more I’m in the car, which I’m sure they will. I’m not looking at today as an indicator of where I’m at or what kind of calibre of driver I am, I’ve got nothing to prove and I’m quietly confident that by the midway point of the year I’ll be where I need to be.”