West Surrey Racing boss Dick Bennetts praised the work done by Ricky Collard after a recent British Touring Car Championship test in the Team BMW 125i M-Sport.

Son of Rob Collard, who remains at the works squad for 2018, Ricky, substituted for his father during a winter test as the team reacked up vital mileage at Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

“We ran two cars at Silverstone with Rob and Ricky Collard”, Bennetts told TCF, “then did further work at Brands Hatch to tick some boxes.”

While his maiden outing in the NGTC BMW remained a learning experience, the younger Collard’s debrief proved invaluable for Bennetts after unearthing set-up alterations that improved the team’s subsequent run at Brands Hatch.

On the 21-year-old’s time behind the wheel, Bennetts concluded “very good. He took a while to adapt; he said the steering was light and I said ‘get used to it’. He’s been used to aero with cars such as in GTs and DTM.

“But, he gave us some information later in the day which was very useful. This lead me to try something at Brands Hatch – which worked.

“I said to his dad ‘be careful, because your son is bloody quick!'”