MOTORBASE FOCUS BTCC CARS
The Motorbase team secured hard-fought points at Oulton Park, before topping the timing sheets during a tyre test at Snetterton…
The Motorbases Focuses have been battling hard in the BTCC, and then set the fastest times in a mid-season tyre test too.
The last race before the mid-season break at Oulton Park was full of ups and downs for us; qualifying was a mixed bag of Ollie Jackson’s best session of the season so far with a frustrating P14 for Tom Chilton who was unable to hook up the perfect lap. That saw both cars starting Race 1 from the middle of the pack, and while Ollie did a fantastic job of earning his highestplaced finished of the season, Tom suffered suspension damage after an incident with Jake Hill which meant he did well to bring the Focus home in P12.
Race 2 was equally frustrating; we knew both cars had the pace, but contact with Hill again saw Tom’s car suffer damage, this time causing him to retire. Meanwhile, after running in 8th for much of the race, Ollie dropped back a little to cross the line in P13, securing more valuable points for both him and the team.
Ollie’s consistency continued to payoff in the final race, with his third haul of championship points from the weekend, eventually taking 14th after coming under consistent pressure for the entire 15-lap race. Tom also displayed an epic drive; starting from the back of the grid, he stormed off the line, taking 5 places on the opening lap alone. He then played the long-game, preserving his tyres before launching his assault to make up an incredible fifteen places on track to take P13 as the flag dropped.
After Oulton, the BTCC enters a midseason break for 4 weeks before the second half of the season gets underway at Snetterton in August. But during that time there is an official two-day tyre test at Snet, which gives all the teams a bit of time to assess their performance and make some subtle changes. While the main focus is on testing the tyres, we also learn more about the car and its setup too, so it’s no surprise we take these test days seriously.
Both drivers benefited hugely from their time on track, with Tom clocking up an incredible 163 laps of the circuit during that time. Not only that, but he also set the fastest time of anyone across both days, and Ollie topped the time sheets on day two too!
That gives all us incredible confidence going in to the second half of the season, which would have already kicked off by the time you read this. Keep up to date with results and race reports on the website – www.fastfordmag.co.uk – and we’ll be back with more details and insight in the next issue…