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Lewis Hamilton's brother Nicolas completes first BTCC test

Nicolas Hamilton, younger brother of Formula 1 world champion Lewis, completed his maiden run in a British Touring Car at Brands Hatch on Friday

Hamilton, who will make his BTCC race debut at Croft next month, drove his AmD Tuning Audi S3 for the first time at Brands and said it had "pretty much gone to plan" despite some off-track moments and a spin caused by contact from another car.

"Today was all about getting myself used to the car," said Hamilton, who has cerebral palsy.

"It's nothing like anything I've driven before so it's a steep learning curve.

"I'm just delighted to have been out there as it's something I've been looking forward to for a very long time.

"Now we can focus on making progress ahead of our first race weekend."

"We've been running on old tyres and not overly focused on set-up as the whole day has really been based around making myself familiar with new surroundings."

AUTOSPORT SAYS...
Scott Mitchell, BTCC correspondent (@ScottMitchell89)

Fans who see glimpses of Lewis Hamilton's incredible wealth through social media must find themselves in awe a lot of the time.

So his younger brother getting a drive in the BTCC probably provided an opportunity for some to be cynical about how the opportunity arose.

But Nicolas Hamilton's been very clear from the start: this is his project.

The 23-year-old's grafted for this, shunning family money and working to get his own sponsorship deals in place.

He told AUTOSPORT that having his maiden run at Brands Hatch on Friday would be a "dream come true", but no doubt it also reiterated the size of the challenge ahead.

Back in March Hamilton said he just wanted to avoid being last on the grid at Croft.

That's not because a disabled driver can't succeed, but because the new AmD signing is very inexperienced, hasn't raced for 18 months and the BTCC is an unforgiving place.

Track time will be crucial. Four or five test days before Croft should blow the cobwebs off, but the five rounds he'll contest this year (he's missing Knockhill) will just be part of a big learning curve ahead of what he hopes will be a full campaign next year.

Hamilton wants to use the BTCC as a platform to inspire others in a similar scenario to him, and the best way to do that will be to prove a disability is not a limitation in a racing car.

To achieve that he must, to a point, be judged like any other driver.

AmD has made alterations to the ex-Robb Holland Audi, including a hand-operated clutch and modified pedal box, but that's it.

Hamilton's made a point of saying he wants anybody to be able to get in his car and drive it.

That indicates a will to avoid special treatment - he wouldn't have picked the BTCC if he wanted it any other way.

Pictures: MotorSport Vision

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