NORTHWICH team Speedworks Motorsport endured a day of frustration at the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship’s first collective test.

Their Toyota Avensis machine, handed over to the series debutants on less than 48 hours earlier, managed only three laps at Silverstone on Thursday.

“It was disappointing,” said team principal Christian Dick.

“The car did not run well because a number of issues cropped up that we ran out of time to resolve.”

Driver Tony Hughes, from Knutsford, was unable to join his rivals from the championship’s biggest field for two decades in the four-hours test.

He is due to start his first race on Sunday week.

“The engine had never even been switched on before the test, so literally the first time the car moved was when Tony took it out on track,” said Dick earlier in the day.

“It’s been a hectic few days, and the guys were working through the night to have the car ready to present to the media.

“I just wish we’d had a chance to do a proper shakedown.

“However the car looks amazing and we can’t wait to get to work on it.”

He told the Guardian a test had been arranged for early next week to give Hughes time to adjust to the car ahead of the season curtain-raiser at Brands Hatch on April 3.

Speedworks were not the only team to miss out on precious testing time.

Electrical problems with his Special Tuning Racing SEAT limited Tom Boardman to just a handful of laps, while Tom Onslow-Cole failed to appear on track at all after his AmD Milltek Racing VW Golf suffered a mechanical failure earlier in the day.

Frank Wrathall who, like Speedworks, will run a new specification Avensis in 2011, did not start the engine of his machine either.

Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing) set the fastest time during the test, run concurrently with the series’ annual media day, in his Vauxhall Vectra.

His best circuit, 59.982s, was a quarter of a second faster than Tony Gilham’s 888 with Collins Contractors-backed Vectra.

Two-times former champion Matt Neal was third quickest in his Honda Racing Team Civic, edging out defending champion Jason Plato (Silverline Chevrolet).