Following a difficult start to the season, Pipercross sponsored Airwaves Racing is hoping for a repeat of history as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) arrives at Donington Park circuit this coming weekend April 14/15.

The Derbyshire track has given the Motorbase-run squad much case for celebration in previous seasons, with Mat Jackson steering his old S2000 Focus ST to victory in both 2012 and 2011; and Airwaves Racing are aiming for a return to winning ways after suffering with reliability issues during last months’ opening round at Brands Hatch.

Team-mate Aron Smith also has a strong record at Donington Park having won his first Renault Clio Cup race there in 2009. The young Irishman will be looking to improve on the two top ten finishes he secured during his first BTCC race weekend here last season and is hopeful that the move up to the Mountune-powered NGTC Ford Focus ST should help to deliver a strong set of results.

In contrast to the poor fortunes of his team-mates, Liam Griffin arrives at Donington Park in a buoyant mood as the current leader of the Jack Sears Trophy. Addison Lee Motorbase driver Griffin enjoyed his most successful BTCC weekend to date at Brands Hatch and is eager to add to his tally of two class wins.

This weekend also sees the emergence of a new partner to the Airwaves Racing team as ‘Redcentric’ takes to the track for the first time. A new sister company to Redstone, which will continue to offer what it has built an enviable reputation for doing: the world-class delivery of structured cabling, support services and smart buildings; the Redcentric brand will focus on delivering innovative technology such as cloud services, managed networks and apps that enable businesses to improve their productivity and efficiency.

After a stalled start to its 2013 campaign, Airwaves Racing currently lies sixth in the Teams’ Championship, fourth in the Independents’ title chase. However Team Principal David Bartrum is confident that a change of luck could be all that’s needed to get the team’s 2013 campaign back on track.

Round 2 of the 2013 season takes place at Donington Park on April 20^th-21^st. Live coverage of Sunday’s events will be shown on ITV4, itv.com and also in HD from 11.00am – 6pm, with itv.com featuring live streaming online of Saturdays qualifying session between 3.40 and 4.10pm.

Redcentric Managing Director Fraser Fisher said:

“The IT landscape has changed significantly over recent years, and is constantly evolving; Redcentric is our answer to today’s modern IT challenges. Redcentric will take a hands-on consultative approach to IT managed services.

“We’re delighted to be associated with the Airwaves Racing team, a winning team in the BTCC. The branding on the NGTC Focus ST allows us to introduce Redcentric to a much wider audience and new markets, and we’re looking forward to a new successful partnership in 2013.”

Motorbase Performance Team Manager Oly Collins said:

“The opening weekend at Brands didn’t exactly go to plan and we had more than our fair share of issues that needed to be resolved before the next round. As always, the whole Airwaves Racing team has worked tremendously hard over the short break; we’ve been out testing twice with Mat and Aron and feel confident that we’ve bottomed out the teething troubles and have improved the NGTC’s pace and reliability. Basically, we’re now where we hoped we’d be with the cars for the first round!

“This weekend will also be the first time that the NGTC Focus ST’s will have raced on the Donington circuit so there’s still a bit of the unknown, fingers crossed we can get a repeat of last season and pick up some good results!”

Airwaves Racing driver Mat Jackson said:

“Brands Hatch was particularly tough and not the start that we were hoping for at all. We’ve made some big improvements to the NGTC in the weeks since and the testing has helped iron out the reliability issues we were struggling with.

“Donington is a track that we’ve done well at in the past; we picked up our first race win there last season, so hopefully with the progress we’ve made we can bounce back and get our 2013 campaign off to a proper start this weekend.”

Airwaves Racing driver Aron Smith said:

“After Brands Hatch we got the chance to go away to test and play with the car; something we weren’t really able to do before the opening round, mainly due to the weather. So now we’re heading to Donington with a completely different car and one that does what we want it to do!

“We’ve definitely made a big breakthrough with the set up so that should transpire into better results and I’m confident that we’ll be in a much stronger position to really challenge at the front this weekend.”

Addison Lee Motorbase driver Liam Griffin said:

“After the relative success of Brands Hatch, it’s nice to be looking forward to going racing again this weekend, and leading the Jack Sears’ trophy certainly helps, that’s for sure! Having competed against the other Jack Sears’ contenders in the opening round, it was great to see some good clean racing again and long may that continue!

“We were the quickest S2000 around Donington on the media day test, and I have fond memories of the circuit, getting my first top ten finish in there in 2011 so hopefully we can build on that and have another successful weekend.”

Pipercross sponsored Airwaves Racing’s dream start to the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season ended in disappointment as the new season got underway at Brands Hatch this weekend March (30/31).

The Kent-based squad suffered at the hands of the gods at its local track during the Easter weekend’s racing action, with both Airwaves NGTC Ford Focus ST’s suffering from unexpected component issues.

Less than ideal track conditions as temperatures struggled to get above freezing did little to help the Motorbase-run squad as the team fought to find the pace seen last season with the new set up on the NGTC machines. A difficult qualifying session interrupted by snow on Saturday afternoon ended in frustration for the team, with Mat Jackson and Aron Smith finishing in P12 and P14 respectively having missed the chance to improve their times as the bad weather hit.

Race 1 would prove to set the tone for the day, where despite a strong start by the Airwaves Racing pairing, Mat Jackson’s #7 Focus collected debris from the pack, causing the car to overheat and forcing the Airwaves man down into 20^th position. Team-mate Smith battled hard to make up five places during a dramatic opening race, crossing the line in P9 to secure the team’s first set of points for 2013 season despite suffering with his own gear shift issues which continued to hamper the #8 Focus for the remainder of the day.

Reverse fortune hit the Airwaves squad for the second race of the weekend. With Jackson finding the pace in his #7 Focus, he produced another of his renowned charges through the field battling his way through to bring the NGTC over the line in P8 (later promoted to P7). Tragically, a wiring issue on Smith’s car put pay to the Irishman’s progress, forcing the #8 Ford into early retirement from the race.

With the reverse grid draw pitting Mat Jackson in pole position for the final race of the day (following Gordon Shedden’s disqualification for ride height infringement) the Airwaves man took a strong lead from the starting line and the team strategy of saving the new ‘soft’ tyres for the race 3 looked to be a prudent call.  However, the gap was short lived as a heavy crash between Newsham and Austin in the opening laps led to the deployment of the safety car, allowing the field to catch up with the #7 Focus.

It quickly became apparent that despite Jackson’s best efforts, the Focus was struggling for pace once more with an intermittent engine fault and the 32 year-old dropped back down into P10. Further down the field, fellow Airwaves racer Aron Smith deftly made his way through the pack, managing to make up an impressive 10 places to slot in behind his team-mate in P11 – where they would both end the final race of the day.

Conversely, the opening weekend gave cause for celebration for the Addison Lee Motorbase team competing in the Jacks Sears Trophy (JST). After a slow start to the weekend with the S2000 Focus also battling to find pace in the freezing track conditions; Griffin came into his own during race 2 putting on a great show for the gathered crowds bringing his stunning #66 ‘black beauty’ across the line in P11 – heading up the contenders for the Jack Sears Trophy and collecting the team’s first piece of silverware for the 2013 season.

Griffin showed impressive race-craft once more during race 3 to come home in P16 and second in class – later promoted to 1^st place for the JST after Lea Wood’s disqualification – and marking Griffin’s most successful weekend in the BTCC to date.

Although not the dream start to the season that Airwaves Racing was hoping for, the squad managed to score some much welcomed points during a challenging weekend and the Motorbase-run team is now focussed on looking ahead to the next round at Donington Park on 20/21 April.

Motorbase Performance Team Manager Oly Collins said:

“A very disappointing weekend for the team unfortunately, especially after all of the hard work that everyone at Motorbase Performance has put in over the winter months; so to get the limited results that we did is really frustrating.

“We will work heard between now and the next round to rectify the issues we’ve experienced this weekend and will come back stronger at Donington. On the plus side from the weekend, the whole team are absolutely delighted with Liam’s two wins in the Jack Sears Trophy which he thoroughly deserved.”

Airwaves Racing driver Mat Jackson said:

“We’ve made a lot of different changes to the set up today and we were chasing the circuit with it being so cold. Both cars are down a different road so we’re learning twice as much data so we’ve got a lot to work with between now and the next round at Donington.

“Overall though, we’ve got a bit more of an understanding of where we are and where we need to be and feel positive that we’ve got the direction now that we need to go in to push the cars forward. We also need to iron out the reliability issues we suffered from this weekend, which we’ll do over the next few weeks.”

Airwaves Racing driver Aron Smith said:

“Well, that was not the weekend we had planned for! There’s definitely more for us to learn about the car to get the most out of it but I think we kept making steps forward.

“Lap time wise we started off with quite a big deficit and closed it right down for the last race despite my car missing race 2. We have a test day planned between now and Donington in two weeks’ time, which should really get us back onto the pace where we need to be, and I think that the developments that we’ll find will hopefully put us back at the sharp end for the next round.”

Addison Lee Motorbase driver Liam Griffin said:

“That was a great weekend. I came back to try and win some silverware and to have a little bit of competition, and that’s what the Jack Sears Trophy is all about. We’ve got a few really good drivers in there that are fairly evenly matched and I think it’ll be quite a good fun season now.

“Ultimately that’s what you come racing for – to get on that podium; so to be stood there next to BTCC champions spraying champagne is a pretty special moment!”

Airwaves Racing is gearing up for home track glory as the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season gets underway at Brands Hatch this coming weekend March 30/31.

With the Kent circuit less than a mile from the team’s workshop, the Motorbase-run outfit is going all out for podiums with Mat Jackson and Aron Smith piloting the stunning Airwaves Racing Ford Focus ST next generation touring cars (NGTC).

Following an intense pre-season test programme which has been marred somewhat by the recent weather conditions; Airwaves Racing remains buoyant for its challenge on the 2013 title ahead of this weekend’s opening round and is hoping to emulate past seasons’ successes on the Indy Circuit.

2013 marks the beginning of a new era for Motorbase Performance as it enters its first full season as a constructor having built both Mountune-powered NGTC machines entirely in house over the winter months.

With amplified backing from Wrigley’s Airwaves, and one of the most promising driver pairings with return of Jackson and Smith; this season is set to be the Kent-based outfit’s most ambitious challenge on the title to date and David Bartrum’s squad is eager to kick-start its 2013 campaign on winning form.

Liam Griffin also returns to the BTCC this weekend under the new team banner of Addison Lee Motorbase. The Addison Lee boss will be taking to the track in his S2000 Ford Focus ST as he competes for the title of the newly formed Jack Sears Trophy.

The opening three rounds of the 2013 season take place on the Indy circuit at Brands Hatch on March 30-31. Live coverage of Sunday’s events will be shown on ITV4, itv.com and also in HD from 11.30am – 6pm, with itv.com featuring live streaming online of Saturdays qualifying session between 3.40 and 4.10pm.

Motorbase Performance Team Principal David Bartrum said:

“It’s always great to start the season at your home circuit. It’s seems that it’s been a very, very long winter and this weekend will be the underlining point of all the hard work we’ve done as a team in the past few months. It’s great to finally get underway and see what all the other teams have got to offer. Obviously we go testing; but there’s been some bad weather so none of us have really had a clear run of it, so it’ll be interesting to finally get to see what the other teams have been working on and how they perform on track.

“To have built and presented our own new NGTC cars; keeping Mat and Aron in the seat and then to have Liam out there in his old car again with another NGTC car waiting in the wings feels extra special, and even more so to kick it all off at our local track, Brands Hatch. I can’t wait to get going!”

Airwaves Racing driver Mat Jackson said:

“I always look forward to going racing at Brands; obviously it’s the team’s local track and we always get a lot of support whenever we race there. With the NGTC programme we’re now up to two cars so hopefully we can get the set up in the right direction to challenge for race wins from the off, and everybody at Airwaves Racing is working immensely hard to achieve this.

“We’re learning throughout the testing. We’re learning the good and the bad you can always take the positive out of each test and I think hopefully we’re in a good position to go forward into this weekend with some cars that we challenge the boys at the front with.”

Airwaves Racing driver Aron Smith said:

“I’m so excited ahead of the first round. To be back on the grid and to have Airwaves back on board so strongly with the team is literally a dream come true for me. We’ve stepped up once again with the cars and the team have worked so hard over the winter to develop the NGTC into something a lot stronger than what they finished last year; even then to think that Mat possibly could have won three races in the NGTC last year; I think that’s a really good starting point!

“The last time I was at Brands I won my first ever BTCC race so I have really fond memories of it as you can imagine; so fingers crossed we can go back there and do the same again!”

Addison Lee Motorbase driver Liam Griffin said:

“It’s great to be back! I thought last year was going to be my retirement but having looked at what else is out there and just missing the BTCC over the winter period you end up thinking that there’s nothing else that you want to do; it’s just like a drug and you just have to come back for another dose!”

Pipercross USA have taken on a new dealer for the US. With Pipercross now set up with a full US office the task was on trying to find new dealers who would compliment the range accordingly. Pipercross have a strong hold on the VAG market and with the Euro market booming in the US the choice was clear.

ECS Tuning have been a major player in the US for the VAG, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Mini market for a while now and when offered to the opportunity to take on Pipercross it was a no braniner. ECS are one of the largest wholesalers in the USA for European parts, with specialist brand managers for VW, Audi, BMW they offer a great technical service, ECS Tuning will also hold great stock for all the popular models they cover with great delivery. We are very excited about this new era of Pipercross in the US and are looking forward to what the future holds.

Check out their website at www.ecstuning.com

Pipercross have confirmed there continued support with Motorbase Peformance for the 2013 BTCC season as the team revealed their driver line up. Mat Jackson and Aron Smith will re-join Motorbase Performance for its 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) campaign competing in a pair of in-house built NGTC Ford Focus ST’s.

2013 will see David Bartrum’s squad enter its first full season as a constructor following the debut of its race winning NGTC Focus midway through the 2012 season. The Kent-based team is poised for its most ambitious title bid to date with the addition of a second in-house built Mountune-powered NGTC Ford Focus ST.

Team Principal David Bartrum said: “We’re incredibly excited about this season. It’s great to be starting the season with two drivers that know the team so well; consistency is key at such an important time with our own car, and it means we can get straight to work.

“With Mat [Jackson] and Aron [Smith] both back on board, I believe we have one of the strongest driver pairings on the grid. Mat has shown his BTCC pedigree over past few years and with the new NGTC up to speed, I fully expect him to be right up there battling for the 2013 title. It’s also great to have Aron back in the Motorbase family; he had a great debut season last year, finishing on a high; and with a new NGTC under him I’m sure there’s much more to come from the young Irishman!

“The NGTC exceeded everyone’s expectations last year, and with the work and developments we’ve made over the winter I’m confident that we will be serious title contenders in 2013. Roll on Brands Hatch!”

2013 marks Jackson’s fourth season with the Motorbase squad and his seventh competing in the BTCC where he has become one of its most successful and popular drivers; “2012 was a season of two halves for us, with the latter part focussed on developing and testing the new NGTC with the view that 2013 would be a key year for the team and myself” commented Jackson. “The NGTC programme has been an exciting project to be involved with and what we achieved in 2012 was epic; in the space of 80 days we took the car from the drawing board to race wins; and this has given us a great platform to start from.”

Jackson added: “We also knew how much more the NGTC could give and the Motorbase boys have worked incredibly hard over the winter to improve the car further. We will have to wait for the weather to improve so I can further my knowledge of the car, but I believe that together with the passion within the team, we have a car that can challenge for the main title in 2013”

23 year old former Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year, Aron Smith, also makes a welcome return to the Motorbase squad for his second season. The Irishman impressed during the closing rounds the 2012 season in particular, picking up his maiden race win at the season finale at Brands Hatch. “Your first season is always a tricky one because you’re very conscious that you need to prove yourself, so that was an added bit of pressure” said Smith. 

“The best part about last season was being with Motorbase, everyone made me feel right at home and helped me to develop into a touring car driver. To return to for a second season with Motorbase is what I always wanted so fingers crossed I can give them the results that they deserve. I don’t think people realise how big a transition it is into the BTCC so it’s nice to know I don’t have as big a learning curve ahead of me this year and that everyone at Motorbase is behind me.

Smith added: “I think this season will be a great one to be part of as all the major teams have converted to the NGTC regulations which can only mean one thing – some great racing! Before Christmas I got my first taster of the NGTC focus and was blown away by it. Since then the team have been flat out developing it even further so I can’t wait to start testing once again.”

Just the other month we had our Pipercross open day for our dealers at Santa Pod. With the weather not the greatest early on in the day it mean’t we were all huddled round chatting about this and that. With so many nice cars turning up from our dealers and our friends at Falken drift team it got us thinking….”maybe we need a track car??”

Now for those of you that know the guys at Pipercross I think it’s safe to say that some of them are a little impatient and excitable. Needless to say that within 5 mins of the discussion starting we were on Pistonheads and had found a little blue 172 Clio Cup up for sale. Within 20 minutes a price was agreed and it was collected the same night, whats the point in hanging around we thought??

So the next day there we were all standing around what had been a 1 owner from new little run around “never raced or rallyed”  but boy was that about to change, the next words that came out were clear and simple……”strip it!” The car was pulled into the unit and by the end of the day a car of its former self sat naked in the unit, perfect!!

Now the fun stuff could start, so it was on the phone to our many friends of the industry. First up the guys at The Performance Company kindly sent us a set of Nology plugs and leads for the engine service along with a very nice suede Shutt steering wheel for that pure race feel.

Next up for the engine was a full coolant hose set supplied by the guys at Forge Motorsport, great hoses and a really great fit they really set the engine bay off in that striking blue. To compliment the new Forge intake hose we made a custom intake for the car. The current set up is only temporary until we can relocate the battery and then fit our C7000 TOCA approved, cermaic coated unit but that engine bay is tight and will need some further attention.

Now the car was breathing better it would be silly to not let it have a true sound track so we contact out BTCC partners Scorpion Exhausts and the next day we had a lovely full cat back stainless system for the little Clio. Once it was fitted we knew we had made the right decision, as well as adding extra power it sounded great!

If we were going to build a decent track car we were going to need some serious dampers. A call was put in to Aron at Bilstein and a few days later we had a shiny full race kit for the Clio. Once it was fitted we could adjust and set up the car just the way we wanted. This kit has made a huge difference to the car and once we have it fully corner weight and set up it will be even better!

In our hastiness we had forgot that the Forge Motorsport Action Day was only about a week away and so the genius idea of having the car built to a standard where we could take it to the event and use it on the track was made. Yes we are full of good ideas at times……..this however would prove to be quite a stressful and last minute one to say the least. So with this in mind the attention turned to safety and the interior next. A call was put in to Mark at Cobra seats, explaining the situation Mark was true gent and said he could get our seats sorted in time for the Action day with a full set of 6 point harnesses. The seats arrived as promised with frames as well and were fitted last thing before we left on the Friday. The seats looked fantastic with the Pipercross logo stitched into the back and the orange patches to match the new colour scheme of the car (Blue & Orange) the seats in question are the ultra comfy Suzuka Pro seats and what a seat!!

While all this had been going on the wheels had been getting refurbished and powder coated orange, then they were treated to a set of Yokohama AO48 all round. The new wheels looked awesome on the car with their sticky new rubber. Also fitted was the new steering wheel with OMP boss giving a great feel to the whole set up.

Brakes had been high on the agenda for the car and the guys at TAROX had been great in offering a full 6 pot caliper kit from their sport compact range. It wasn’t to be though for the action day as we had left it just to late for them. We put a call into the guys at EBC and they were happy to help us out, the next day we had a set of EBC Ultimax discs and yellow stuff pads. Great stopping power for the car and very much needed. We now have the full TAROX kit which looks amazing and we will be running the kit on the front with EBC discs and pads on the rear.

With everything topped up, bolted down and double checked we loaded the car for the Action Day and set off. The Forge day was epic and even more popular than last year. With the little clio passing the nose test we took it out for its maiden voyage on the fast Castle Combe circuit……..what can we say, for a car that was put together in the space of about a week and a half it flew round the track. It was nimble, it was nippy and put a smile on our faces. It wasn’t long before the Clio was about to become a minor celebrity being used as the camera car for one of Brooksies famous videos, following Matt in the Pipercross sponsored Team Falken drift car. The little Clio had done us proud and survived its first outing with not a single fault. With more planned for the car keep your eyes peeled for the next update. 

We would just like to thank everyone involved up to this point with the project The Performance Company, Forge Motsport, Bilstein, Scorpion, TAROX, EBC, POTN, COBRA. Without you guys none of this would have been possible so quickly so thank you!!

Monster Energy athlete Liam Doran won the final round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship in Germany on Sunday, snatching second place in the championship away from American racer Tanner Foust in the process. Run on the Estering near Hamburg, the German event was another made arduous by mixed weather conditions but, with confidence, high Doran ran in the top four all weekend and peaked at just the right moment.

“The team spirit was raised last weekend when we got second in Finland. I wasn’t happy because I really felt that we could have won there but the conditions were terrible and everyone in the team had worked so hard for that result that I could feel things were working better, with that I felt confident coming to Germany and I liked the track when we here a couple of years ago,” said Doran. “The event started well and I set the fastest lap in timed practice and when it rained in the first heat we had the fastest car on the track but then the conditions changed and we had that crazy challenge of a drying track. We had to work all day Sunday to get a dry setup in the car. The heats weren’t bad even if we didn’t really set the world alight, the pressure was on in the final and that helped me because I knew the win was there.”

The A final needed two starts, the first halted when Pavel Koutny’s Fiesta rolled over the Skoda Fabia of front row starter Peter Hedström. In the restart Doran made a perfect start, dived between pole qualifier Davy Jeanney and Hedström and grabbed the lead going into the first corner. From there on, Doran controlled the race, dropping briefly to second when he took his turn in the Joker Lap section, but then repassing Jeanney on the race track to take the win byjust over two-seconds. “I have had a lot of bad luck this year and events that we could have won didn’t quite happen for me. I can look back now and think that with a little better luck I could have been challenging for the title in the last round,” said Doran, “This is the first year of my new team, I put the whole team together this year andwe’ve come here with a completely new car and we’ve had to work very hard to develop everything so second place in the championship and the win today is a great achievement. Now we are in a great place to end the year and build for the future, of course I’d have liked more wins and to have been champion, but now I can see that probably wasn’t a realistic aim against the opposition we had. Timerzyanov has commanded the championship in a way that no-one has done for a long time, but it’s not going to be so easy for him next year.”

Result of A final (six laps) 1 Liam Doran (Citroën DS3) 4,01.32s;

2 Davy Jeanney (Citroën C4) +2.3s; 3 Stig-Olov Walfridson

(Renault Clio III) + 3.3s; 4 Morten Bermingrud (Citroën C4)

+0.6s; 5 Andy Scott (Ford Focus II) 5 laps; 6 Michael De

Keersmaecker (Ford Focus II) 4 laps; 7 Peter Hedström (Skoda

Fabia II) 0 laps; 8 Pavel Koutny (Ford Fiesta VII) DNS.

Final championship positions: 1 Timur Timerzyanov (Citroën

DS3) 148; 2 Doran 104; 3 Tanner Foust (Ford Fiesta VII) 100; 4

Jeanney 100; 5 De Keersmaecker 85; 6 Mats Lysen (Renault

Clio III) 83.

Adam Morgan has a number of reasons to be upbeat about his chances in Rockingham’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship round this weekend.

Morgan is confident his Pipercross sponsored Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis will be well suited to Rockingham’s track lay-out which consists of a long start-finish straight and twisting infield section. The Speedworks team have made some huge advancements in the cars this year and everything looks positive for the weekend.

Although anti-clockwise, its characteristics are similar to those of Snetterton where last month the rookie qualified a stunning best-ever fifth fastest outright.

Furthermore the Lancastrian believes his squad has got on top of a brake-related gremlin that cost him dear at Knockhill three weeks ago.

Morgan told btcc.net: “It might be the other way round but Rockingham does have similarities to Snetterton and obviously things really started to come together there in qualifying.

“We did have a problem with the car’s brakes at Knockhill in particular – if you recall I went off at the hairpin because I had none left at all! But the team really kept working away at things and got it cured for the third race when I set the second fastest race lap of anyone and got back up to 11th from near the back of the grid.

“I was really happy with my performance in that one and it shows the pace is there. I’ve broken into the top ten a couple of times now but I’d love to start pushing for top sixes which, when everything falls into place, will happen…”

Christian Dick, boss of Cheshire-based Speedworks, has also reiterated his faith in Morgan who, it should be remembered, is still only seven events into his BTCC career since winning last year’s supporting Ginetta GT Supercup.

Dick added: “Going to Rockingham we are aiming to make sure we pick up where we left off and build on the performance that we have been growing. Rockingham should suit Adam more than Knockhill, although he did a very good job there and he has some good results to show for it.”

Meanwhile Tony Hughes will return at Rockingham in Speedworks’s second Avensis, raced at Knockhill by ‘stand-in’ Paul O’Neill.

Pipercross sponsored Welch Motorsport has opted to sit out this weekend’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship round at Rockingham.

The Hampshire squad’s driver Daniel Welch had told btcc.net recently he had high hopes for his Proton Persona at the Northants track.

But the team, running on a tight budget, has confirmed it will skip the event before returning for the season’s closing two rounds at Silverstone, Northants (Sun 7 Oct) and ‘Finals Day’ on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit (Sun 21 Oct).

We wish the team all the best and look forward to seeing them at Silverstone.

Pipercross sponsored Redstone Racing has its sights firmly set on closing the gap on the Independents championship leaders as Round 8 of The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) gets underway at Northampton’s Rockingham circuit this coming weekend 22/23^rd September.

The Motorbase-run squad remains in a buoyant mood following a successful weekend of results at Knockhill back in August, where the team secured five top ten finishes and its highest placed qualifying position of the season.  The subsequent four week break has given the Redstone Racing crew a welcomed opportunity to make further steps forward in the development of its ‘Little Red Devils’ as the season enters its closing rounds.

Despite having only minimal testing and track time so far, the recently unveiled Mountune-powered NGTC Focus has continued to impress – showing significant pace and consistently challenging for top ten finishes. Rockingham’s US-style Oval track is expected to suit the characteristics of the new NGTC model well and the Redstone Racing team are confident that Mat Jackson will be challenging for podiums in the #4 Focus this coming weekend.

Team-mate and BTCC rookie Aron Smith is also hopeful of a repeat performance following on from his most successful weekend of results at Knockhill. The young Irishman has shown that he’s got to grips with his S2000 Focus and will be looking to capitalise on his recent successes and hunt down that elusive maiden BTCC podium.

Redstone Racing team-mate Liam Griffin will sit out this coming weekend’s action once more. However, the squad will be back up to full strength and fielding all three Ford Focus ST’s at Silverstone in a couple of weeks’ time as he makes his return to the championship.

Round 8 of the BTCC featuring races 22, 23 and 24 take place at Rockingham Circuit on Sunday 23^rd September. Live coverage of Sunday’s events will be shown on ITV4, itv.com and also in HD from 11.00am – 6pm; with itv.com featuring live streaming online of Saturday’s qualifying session between 3.05 and 3.45pm.

Redstone Racing Team Manager Oly Collins said:

“I’m approaching Rockingham with an air of caution. With the NGTC car this is where we predicted would be our first realistic chance to challenge for podiums on out right pace and I still stand by that comment. We’ve had two race meetings under our belts and understand the car a lot better than we did at both Snetterton & Knockhill, so now is our time to deliver. We’re still some way behind the two factory backed teams with experience of the car but that’s never stopped us before!

“Aron had a great weekend last time out, his best so far so I’m hoping we can continue like that and get that elusive podium, however I do fear there may be a parity issue at Rockingham with the nature of the circuit and the larger tyres & brakes of the NGTC cars compared with S2000 front wheel drive. It should be an interesting weekend.”

Redstone Racing Driver Mat Jackson said:

“I think Rockingham should prove to be a circuit where the NGTC car will come in to its own.  With the long corners and abrasive surface, the 18” tyre should provide us with a more consistent car.

“Whilst we have enjoyed a great start to our NGTC programme we are still on a big learning curve with the chassis and the break has helped us to get our head around the data that we have gathered in the previous two rounds to understand further what makes the car tick! With new parts arriving daily we are hoping for further improvements on the car that will enable us to challenge for podium places from the off.”

Redstone Racing Driver Aron Smith said:

“After Knockhill I’d say I’m more fired up than ever, yes there was some drama but that’s all part of it! All I want to do is show what we’re really capable off and make the team proud; you wouldn’t believe how much of a team effort it really is.

“Rockingham has been good to me in the past; in fact I won my first championship in the Renault Clio Cup winter series back in 2008 around there. What’s good about Rockingham is that it’s a good mix of corners; I know parts will definitely suit the S2000 focus so it will be all about capitalising there. Hopefully I can put on another good show!”