Airwaves Racing heads North in search of silverware as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship resumes at North Yorkshire’s Croft circuit for round five this coming weekend.

Straight off the back of a three week break in the racing calendar, the Motorbase-run outfit have been busy preparing the Mountune-powered Ford Focus ST’s and the Airwaves Racing squad is ready to do battle once more as the BTCC hits the North-East!

Wrotham based Airwaves Racing put in a solid performance during round four of the championship. With Cheshire’s picturesque Oulton Park circuit providing the backdrop to a drama filled race weekend; the Airwaves Racing squad secured four top ten finishes, demonstrating imposing pace to challenge at the front of the pack.

Although the results didn’t truly reflect the performance of the team with incidents on and off the track; both Mat Jackson and Fabrizio Giovanardi scored top ten finishes to further fuel Airwaves Racing’s championship challenge and round five at Croft is set to unlock even more potential in the Motorbase Focus ST’s.

Team Manager Oly Collins is hoping for another improvement from his team this weekend:

“Croft will be an interesting one. The Motorbase Focus performance was better than the results showed at Oulton Park so hopefully we can turn that into results. The car is capable of being constantly in the top 6 at each circuit and in all weather, we just need to string a complete weekend together, try and stay out of trouble and get the podiums and wins we know are possible.

“It’s so close between everyone this year, especially the top 15 or so as it has been all season. Hopefully we can take the fight to the BMW’s that now seem to be the cars to beat.”

Meanwhile, Airwaves Racing driver Fabrizio Giovanardi has revealed he prefers other tracks, but will be looking to get the best out of his car this weekend:

“Croft is not my most favourite circuit, but in any case I have had a win there before. Obviously after Oulton I wish to start to have some more luck! At Oulton the performance of the car was improved but we didn’t get the chance to show this for many reasons; thanks to an interrupted qualifying session and Alain Menu!

“At this point of the season it is clear that for me all chance to be in the fight for championship are pretty much over (you never know), but I will put all my effort into trying to win some races for Motorbase.”

Mat Jackson though is looking forward to being back behind the wheel this weekend and believes the Airwaves Racing team can be successful:

“We had a good run last time out at Oulton Park but unfortunately a run of bad luck meant that the results didn’t really go our way. Hopefully we can take that performance and confidence into Croft this weekend and be back fighting at the front again.

“We’ve had some mega results here in the past and the Focus definitely has the pace needed now. We’re not carrying the weight that some of the front runners have, so with a bit of luck, it will give us that little edge that’s needed. Another podium or two would be great, but the win doesn’t feel that far away either.”

Crabbie’s Racing driver Jack Clarke is also hoping to get a strong points finish under his belt as he continues his initiation into the highly-competitive field of the BTCC. Jack had a promising weekend at Oulton Park, showing impressive pace against his counterparts and the Crabbie’s Racing driver is looking to carry that momentum into this weekend whilst keeping his notable 100% finishing record intact.

Clarke is looking for an improvement this weekend and believes he has what it takes to be competitive:

“We were really optimistic coming into Oulton Park and showed a turn of pace all weekend. It was a missed opportunity in qualifying; I made a simple mistake and that put the rest of weekend on the back foot. It was a real slog on Sunday trying to make up positions and I didn’t finish as high as I would have liked but that’s the BTCC – it’s hard, no-holds-barred, elbows-out racing.

“I am knocking on the door of finishing in the points paying positions and will continue to push forward when we visit Croft this weekend. I have good memories of the circuit and I want to continue my 100% finishing record and add further points to my current BTCC tally. The Crabbie’s Ford Focus should be quick through the tight and twisty stuff and I will look for any overtaking opportunities if they arise.”

As the only North East track that the championship visits, Croft is one of the most exciting circuits on the BTCC calendar and is well known for its passionate supporters.

The former airfield has also been the setting for many an intense race performance for the Airwaves Racing team over the years; and both Mat and Fabrizio will be looking to add their race win tally on the short, twisty circuit before the BTCC heads into its extended summer break.

The weekend’s racing action gets underway at Croft circuit June 28/29. Live coverage of Sunday’s events will be shown on ITV4, itv.com and also in HD from 11.00am, with itv.com featuring live streaming online of Saturdays qualifying session between 3.45 and 4.15pm.

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