TESTING TIMES
After completing the build of the new Mk4 Focus ST BTCC car, the Motorbase team enjoyed a positive test at Media Day… just before the whole series was put on hold
It’s been a challenging few weeks for us all, and our thoughts are with all those affected by the current coronavirus situation. But, trying to escape from all that for a brief moment, we’re here to talk about cars. And with a busy few weeks in completing the builds of cars one and two (the third new Mk4 for Andy Neate is nearly finished too), some shakedown time, followed by the official BTCC test day at Silverstone on what was supposed to be Media Day, we’ve got quite a lot to talk about.
Sadly, Media Day was one of the first events to close to the public in a bid to keep the current pandemic under control. It felt a bit weird not having the fans there as they have long been a key part of the day, but with our professional heads on we got on with the business of the day – testing.
Throughout the day we managed to get in a great number of laps, which is testament itself to the build of the new cars; even our previous ‘shakedown’ days at Brands Hatch evolved into mini test sessions because the cars performed faultlessly.
And those efforts were rewarded when we saw the cars perform exceptional well on track. Rory Butcher quickly got to grips with the new Mk4, posting a lap time which was good enough to place him in the top four. “It is very hard to know what the other teams and drivers were up to: I suspect many of them were using the softer tyres and running without ballast to grab the headlines, but I know our pace was genuine, which fills me with optimism,” reports the reigning Independents Champion, “We have already got a fairly good base set-up and we are now at the point where we can chip away at refining it. We haven’t hit the bullseye yet and we are already fast, so I am pleased about that. All the changes we made were positive.”
Team-mate, Ollie Jackson, also enjoyed a very productive test session, completing well over 100 laps during the four-hour test. “We are starting from a completely different place than with the older-spec Focus,” he said. “And we are already in a very good position. We were making changes to the set-up across the day, and I was finding chunks of lap time with each one.”
Andy Neate took to the track in last year’s RS while the team completes the build of his new Mk4 Focus, which gave him the perfect opportunity to get to back up to speed with the BTCC since he last raced in Championship in 2016.
We’re all very positive ahead of the 2020 season, and while the start of the campaign has been delayed, we’re all itching to get going and seeing what the new cars are capable of in battle, whenever that will be. Until then, stay safe everyone, and we hope to see you trackside when the 2020 BTCC season finally gets underway.