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LAST ISSUE WE HELD BACK a couple of pages so that we could rush our first impressions of the MG3 into the magazine. Since then, the cars have been shown to great acclaim at MG Live! and this month we have a more detailed assessment of the car and its role within MG. The undoubted conclusion is that for a little car, it has a massive role to play. Turn to p6 for the full five pages. That does mean that the rest of the News pages have been a bit squeezed, especially since we have made room to at least try and do MG Live! justice as well (see p12/p14). So I hope you will forgive me for taking the unusual step of squeezing in my BTCC report here. This month’s racing was at Croft, and while it was not generally a great day for MG, it did end on a promising high as the teams went into the mid-season break. To start with the bad news, in Race One the MGs looked out of sorts and were more concerned with desperately defending their positions than attacking, Plato struggling to a disappointing sixth with Tordoff seventh as the BMWs emerged as potential championship rivals to the two MG6s and multiple Honda Civics. Worse was to come in Race Two when the MGs were the only cars to choose wet weather tyres. They streaked ahead in the rain on the first two laps, but then the track dried and they might as well have been driving backwards, finishing dead last. And the good news? In Race Three with pouring rain and standing water causing mayhem, Plato and Tordoff started from the back of the grid but traded fastest lap times with each other as they carved through the field to finish sixth and seventh respectively. It was a major demonstration of skill and commitment in cars that were finally on song and means the next round at Snetterton on August 4 suddenly promises to be a lot more exciting – I can’t wait!