WHILE most of his peers are planning an evening out on the town this Saturday, teenage racing driver Tom Boardman will be at work - on the Silverstone night shift!

For this weekend is the first of the www.theAA.com British Touring Car Championship's two after-dark meetings of 2001.

It will be the first time the 17-year-old has competed at night. But, when darkness descends on the Northamptonshire track, the youngest driver ever in the championship will be relishing the challenge ahead.

The Forton ace has caught on quick in this fast and ferocious series - courtesy of a few panel-bashing skirmishes in the first six rounds - and sees the night races as just another lesson in his touring car apprenticeship.

This weekend, however, he plans to use the lack of daylight to try to avoid any more close encounters of a saloon car kind.

After the last two rounds at Oulton Park, Cheshire, his Peugeot 306 GTi6 needed virtually every panel replacing following several racing incidents with rivals.

Despite the intense and intrusive pressure he was put under, he finished an impressive fourth in the BTC Production class in round six and is closing in on a historic podium finish.

Boardman said: "I don't go looking for trouble, it just seems to find me! Hopefully no-one will see me on the track at night so they might stay out of my way.

"I'm really looking forward to this weekend. It will be a completely new experience for me and should be really exciting. I haven't done anything like this before but fortunately we've got a practice in the dark the night before so I should get accustomed to it before the races."

The youngster, who has made a name for himself this season with his rocket-like starts off the grid, also faces his longest day of racing to date on Saturday, for he will have to complete a qualifying session before the sun sets. It is that all-important grid-deciding practice that he feels is his weakest point at the moment and he is looking for an improvement at Silverstone.

Despite twice finishing in the top five, Boardman has yet to break the top ten in qualifying. He says: "Everyone else has a lot of experience at this level and knows how to nail it in qualifying. You have to be aggressive and drive like you would in the race to get a really good time. The problem is, I like to have cars around me and something to chase, which you don't often get in qualifying.

"I am always confident I can get off the line well and make up some positions, but at the moment I'm probably starting too far back to make a real impression in the race. I think it will come the more experience I get. I'm looking to get in the top ten times on Saturday, but we'll have to wait and see."