Chris Stockton and the BTC Racing team have been turning heads on their BTCC return with their striking new Chevrolet Cruze – and they say their plan is to do the same on the timing sheets.

Stockton got his first serious running in the hatchback Cruze at Donington Park on Tuesday, racking up 31 laps despite some teething troubles with the car.

The 44-year-old says the team’s expectations are initially low, but they are “not here to make up the numbers,” and the goal is to win a race.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes about the new car, Stockton said: “It’s the best kit we could possibly get. We have had some really good help from some really serious people.

“We have got the same kit as everyone else, and we have got to make the most of it. It’s probably as good as most other people’s.

“They say it’s a very small sweet spot to get these cars to go at their best, and the gameplan is to try and find that sweet spot.”

It has been a positive off-season for the team, with the car being completed, and Power Maxed being secured as title sponsors.

The car has been fettled at Brady Fabrications, where the team’s data and chief engineer Steve Brady is a director. Ben Taylor, son of team boss Bert, worked on the car from 6am to 4pm, three days a week, for six months.

“Ben lived down there in a Travelodge for months, doing work on it. Now it has been brought back up to our base in Cheshire, then the Power Maxed thing has come together,” said Stockton.

“It has been meteoric over the last five or six weeks. With Power Maxed joining us, it has changed everything.

“It is a big deal for a small to medium-sized team, firstly to get the funding, and secondly to get the commitment. Their MD Adam Weaver is as passionate as we are. We are so like-minded and I’m sure it will be a long-term relationship.”

Stockton was lauded for his giant-killing exploits in the unreliable Lexus IS200, which he raced in the series between 2006 and 2008. But thoughts have very much turned to the here and now.

He said: “The heads were always the issue with the Lexus. They just weren’t robust enough. It went around the corners well, and stopped well, but just didn’t have the snort the other cars did.

“Those were the old days, and this is a different story. It is about the hardest year we could have ever joined. Anyone would have to be insane to even think of saying we’re going to win a race – but that’s still the target.

“We’re not here to make the numbers up – we’re here to race. That might be mid-pack, it might be towards the back. We just don’t know.

“We’re short of time, and we have low expectations initially. But long-term we still want to win a race.”