After a solid return to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, Wrotham based Motorbase are targeting silverware at Knockhill.
It is the natural next step for the Kent run squad as they look to build up following their return to the series after a half season hiatus.
After both Mat Jackson and James Cole securing points finishes during round six at Snetterton just two weeks ago, the pair will be looking to add to that this weekend.
With the new mountune engine delivering 100% reliability for both Ford Focus ST’s on its racing debut, David Bartrum’s team is quietly confident of building on those initial results and fully focused on challenging for podiums as the racing reconvenes.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Team Principal David Bartrum said: “Snetterton was a decent return for Motorbase and a good debut for the new mountune engine. However, we’re eager to get some new silverware in our trophy cabinet and that’s the aim for Knockhill.”
A strong qualifying performance will be pivotal to Motorbase’s success this weekend. With space a premium on the short and twisty circuit, Knockhill is a notoriously difficult track to overtake on and both Jackson and Cole have a tough task ahead of them with a packed grid to contend with. Nonetheless, having celebrated the its maiden race win of the season on the Fife circuit last year, the squad is determined to unlock the Focus’ full potential with the aim of a repeat performance.
He added: “Snetterton was about getting some good results and finding out how far things have moved on in the BTCC whilst we’ve been away.
“I think it’s fair to say that we will be approaching Knockhill with some confidence. We need to improve our qualifying performance; it’s so important in the BTCC with such a competitive field and especially so at Knockhill. We won there last year, but as I’ve said before, things have moved on a great deal this season.”
Mat Jackson is also keen to get back on the grid and out racing in the Focus and is hopeful that they can net a podium finish over the weekend.
He said: “We had a good weekend at Snetterton, not as strong as we’d hoped for initially but we learned a lot that we can take with us into this weekend at Knockhill. As always, we need to qualify well to make sure that our weekend gets off to the best possible start and we’re confident that we have the set-up now to help us achieve that.
“The new engine has shown that it has the pace and we fully expect to be right up there mixing it with the boys at the front this weekend. A podium finish is definitely on our radar, and well within our reach.”
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