Adam Morgan was full of superlatives for his new Mercedes A-Class after putting it through its first full test at Silverstone.

The Ciceley Racing driver completed 75 laps of the International circuit yesterday, following on from a shakedown held at the same venue last week.

And he described his new machine as “mega,” adding that it had performed “fantastically well.”

The conditions were cool and dry, allowing the team to gather what it called a “comprehensive set of data” on the new NGTC machine, which features a number of parts from the Toyota Avensis the team ran last season.

Morgan said: “The car is mega. Its agility transferred to a fluid change of direction with ease and it just performed fantastically well.

“There is still a lot of work to do yet, but the first test proved we are developing and progressing the car on schedule. Paul Ridgeway and his team have done a fantastic job with this car and I am now even more excited about the season ahead.

“I am not underestimating the incredible competition that this year presents, but I am confident that I am ready physically and mentally, and I’ll have a mega car to compete with.”

Ridgeway said: “The car’s performance and braking results were good – it was a very productive first test, giving an even stronger foundation to build on.

“We were running on the International circuit so we weren’t able to do any direct time comparisons to last season, but the test definitely delivered some very valuable data.”

Team manager Russell Morgan added: “We collected a lot of great information and Adam really gave the Mercedes its first challenge. We are now focused on getting the car ready for testing again at Brands Hatch on Tuesday, where we will be able to see how our race pace compares.”