Moffat targeting points in 2015

Laser Tools Racing driver Aiden Moffat is setting his sights high in the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, after unveiling the team's brand new Mercedes A Class at the Autosport Show this weekend.

The 18-year-old will compete in his second full season in the BTCC this year, and is confident that he and the team can take big steps forward after a difficult campaign last season with the Chevrolet Cruze:

"I think 2015 will be an interesting year for us all at Laser Tools Racing; the car we've got this year seems to be a lot better than the Chevrolet and feels more suited to me personally as a driver. I've got a year under my belt now, the team's got a bit of experience and we're now in a proven car so I think we can do well this year.

"I'm hoping that we're going to get a lot further up the grid this year. Initially I'd like us to be in the top 10 frequently, we were knocking on the door by the end of last season and the car still didn't feel quite right and we always struggled to get the right set up. I think for this season, bearing in mind that we're in a proven car and we've got experience, we should be able to achieve top 10 finishes and hopefully by the end of the year we can maybe even get one top five. It's a tall order but I think if we went out and set a target of getting in the top 15 it'd be a waste of time as it's something we've already done; if we don't push ourselves we're never going to progress and other teams will catch up to us".

Despite being the youngest ever driver to compete in the BTCC, Moffat admits that he doesn't feel any pressure due to his age:

"If I'm the youngest, I've got more years to try and get up there in the championship while for some of the other drivers they're on the other end of the scale so they'll probably feel more pressure to achieve what they want to achieve soon. For me I've got so long ahead of me and already I'm not at the back of the grid, I'm moving forward and we've proved that, despite my age, we do deserve to be here so I don't really feel any pressure".     

The key for Moffat and the Laser Tool Racing team now is getting as much testing done in the car as possible before the 2015 season launch at Donington Park on March 24th.

Written and interviewed by Alan Faulkner

Photo Credit: Alan Faulkner

Plato's 2015 options

One of the main talking points of the 2015 BTCC pre-season is the future of double champion Jason Plato.

After announcing today (January 8th) at the annual Autosport show that he is still working towards a deal for the forthcoming season, here are some of the options that may be available to the former MG/ Triple Eight driver.

Chrome Edition Restart Racing/ Team BMR
A new team to the BTCC grid last season, run by former British Superbike Championship racer Warren Scott after buying the assets of Tony Gilham's Team HARD outfit in 2013. There was mixed fortune for the team last season, with Aron Smith taking two race wins, and a podium finish for Alain Menu at Rockingham, as well as point scoring finishes for Jack Goff and team principal Scott, but a season which also contained bad luck for the team due to numerous circumstances.

So far the only announcement from the team ahead of the 2015 season came towards the end of the last campaign, with Aron Smith continuing his partnership with the team in one of the VW Passat CC's. There have been whispers of Menu remaining with the team, but nothing official has been confirmed yet.

The VW's were competitive all season long, with all four cars showing their prowess in the latter stages of the campaign. With Plato's vast experience in the BTCC, he could be the key to taking the team one stage further.

Motorbase Performance
One of the oldest teams on the grid, 2014 was a mixed bag for Dave Bartrum's squad.

The season started brightly for the team, having announced the arrival of double champion Fabrizio Giovanardi in pre-season, with Mat Jackson and former single seater driver Jack Clarke completing the line up.

While Mat Jackson was the only driver to complete every lap of every race last season and took two wins and seven podiums over the season, the rest of the campaign was somewhat underwhelming for Motorbase, with Giovanardi struggling to get to grips with NGTC machinery since his return and Jack Clarke's inexperience in the BTCC, although a podium at the season finale shown his potential in the championship.

Like with BMR, there haven't been many announcements from the team about the 2015 season, but they have confirmed former Porsche Carrera Cup GB driver Alex Martin will step behind the wheel of one Ford Focus, under the Dextra Racing banner, and the team will also be running under a new name this season after losing title sponsor Airwaves.

The cars have potential, and have been at the front of the grid before - it might just take the right driver to unlock the car's full potential; that driver could be Plato, and if the team retain Mat Jackson, then Plato will be reunited with his team mate from 2009 at Racing Silverline.

Eurotech Racing
The team formed in 2006, running a Honda Integra for Mike Jordan and have ran under the Pirtek Racing banner in recent years.

Last season focused on the team's lead driver Andrew Jordan, who began the defence of his BTCC driver's title.

The team performed well in the opening half of the season, taking four wins and running strongly at the front of the grid alongside the manufacturer Honda team and keeping pace with the MG's and WSR's BMW's. However, a huge shunt in free practice at Snetterton for Jordan saw the team drop back, with the returning Martin Depper struggling with the team's second NGTC Honda Civic.

Despite the blip in the second half of the season, Eurotech remain one of the bigger teams on the grid, and with Andrew Jordan sealing his move to the MG/ Triple Eight squad, it could pave the way for Jason Plato to take the lead seat alongside Jeff Smith - although the chances of Plato stepping behind the wheel of any Honda seems an unlikely venture.

West Surrey Racing
The team to beat last season, WSR dominated in 2014, taking the team's championship, and Colin Turkington taking both the overall and independent's driver's title.

The team have been busy in pre-season too, snapping up Sam Tordoff from Triple Eight, and announcing today that triple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx will be joining the squad with backing from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).

With the futures of champion Colin Turkington and Rob Collard still up for discussion, a move to WSR is unlikely for Plato, although stranger things have happened in the BTCC.

Other possibilities
There are rumours that a fourth manufacturer could be entering the grid, which could be a potential destination for Plato if the rumours prove to be true.

There is also a possibility Plato could set up his own team, if he still has backing from Tesco and KX next season.

Overall though, these seem to be the most likely options for Plato, and it'll be interesting to hear his plans for next season, sooner rather than later.

Future plans

Hi everyone.

With the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship not returning until April, there will not be many posts on this blog until the season opener at Brands Hatch.

Therefore I would like to take this opportunity to let you know what my plans are for the 2015 season.

Firstly, I will be continuing my association with the BTCC fan page, covering the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup for a second successive season. Last year gave me the opportunity to report on the action of what was a close fought championship, and a taste of professional race reporting. Not only did this allow me to cover the whole championship, but I was also given the chance to cover the progress of championship runner-up Josh Cook - something I aim to continue next season.

As well as the Clio Cup,I will also be providing reports on the whole ToCA support package for the BTCC; the Ginetta GT Championship, Ginetta Junior Championship, Porsche Carrera Cup GB and the newly formed MSA Formula Championship.

With the annual Autosport Show taking place this weekend (10-11 January), the BTCC will be out in force once again, with a number of teams and drivers announcing their plans for the forthcoming season. I personally will be using this as an opportunity to post any breaking news from the show, and possibly interviews with some of the drivers competing in the 2015 BTCC season.

This year will be a big one for me on a personal note. Therefore I would like to thank all those who have given me the opportunities to get my blog off the ground. I never thought I would be in this situation when I first started the blog in mid 2013, and it has gone from strength to strength since my first post.

I know that I would not be where I am now without you, the readers. I'd like to thank all those who have taken the time out to read my blog posts, whether it be the odd post or those who keep up to date with all my posts,and hope that my work continues to be interesting and kept to a professional standard.

Let's hope the  2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is just as exciting as it has been in recent years.

Alan

Bushell enthusiastic about 2015 season

2014 Renault UK Clio Cup champion Mike Bushell has spoke of his delight at joining the BTCC grid for next season.

The 25-year-old will join Shaun Hollamby's AmD Tuning squad for next season, piloting the team's Ford Focus, which debuted this season at the hands of another Clio Cup champion, Dave Newsham.

"It's a little overwhelming really" he admitted, "I've never really set big aspirations for myself. When we started off in the Clio's it was a small privateer team, just a lad and his dad basically. To end up winning the championship and then all of a sudden having something big in place for next year, it's going to be a challenge; it's quite a feeling I have to say!"  

The deal to bring Bushell in at AmD was relatively quick in terms of BTCC driver announcements, with most being made in the New Year. Bushell, though, is confident about next season's drive, and believes he has made the right decision: "We've known Shaun [Hollamby] for a while now through someone we know from racing; he's also fairly local which is good, but aside from that Dave Newsham has been fairly quick during the year, and someone let us know that Shaun could potentially be looking for a young upcoming driver so we spoke to him and he was the only one we spoke to in the paddock. We hit it off straight away and it felt like the right way to go. I also thought 'what's the point in waiting?'".

Bushell joins the BTCC grid for next season after clinching the Renault UK Clio Cup title in nail biting fashion at the season finale at Brands Hatch. Looking back at the 2014 season, Bushell is still finding it hard to believe that he took the title: "It's a little strange I have to say. If you'd have asked me mid-season if I was going to win I'd have probably said no; I think I was fourth in the points and quite a long way back, I'd made a couple of mistakes and had bad luck, but then after the summer break I had a good run, took three wins from four races and saw [Josh] Cook have equally bad luck that I'd had earlier on in the year. That's probably why it's all the more satisfying because I honestly didn't think I was going to do it".      

It's not the first time Bushell has competed in the BTCC though, having debuted in 2013 in the IP Tech Race Engineering Chevrolet Cruze at Knockhill. With it being his first full season in the championship, Bushell admits that his targets for next season are modest: "Anything but last will be a bonus! If I can have three finishes in the opening weekend that'll be a good starting point. I'm quietly confident that we can be competitive; the car's proven with it being a Motorbase built Focus, and as I said before Dave Newsham's had a good run in it this season so that's a confidence boost. I think one of my main aims has to be having a good working relationship with the guys at AmD - looking back at this season it was my first season with Team Pyro and I managed to win the championship so I think if I can bring that bond to AmD then we can be competitive". 

Bushell added: "I think the goal has to being able to compete with the likes of Jason Plato and Matt Neal, certainly in the long term. If I can get the speed together first, get really in tune with the car then maybe later on in the season I'm sure there'll be opportunities with the reverse grid that I might be able to have a head-to-head fight and we'll see how I fare!"

With the season returning in April, it will be some time until we see how Bushell fairs behind the wheel of AmD's Ford Focus. In the mean time though, Bushell's main aims will be to squeeze in as much pre-season practice as possible before the curtain is raised at the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit on April 4th/5th.

Written and interviewed by Alan Faulkner
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Motorsport Photography

Bushell takes Clio Cup Crown

Team Pyro's Mike Bushell has been crowned the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup champion after yet another strong performance at Brands Hatch during the series finale.

Bushell came into the last two rounds with a 34 point lead ahead of Jordan Stilp, putting him in prime position to take the championship. Qualifying didn't go quite to plan for the 25 year old, with his Team Pyro machine only managing sixth place for the start of round 17, but  was able to come home in fourth place behind the SV Racing trio of Josh Cook, Ant Whorton-Eales and Alex Morgan, who finished first, second and third respectively. With Jordan Stilp finishing 12th, Cook moved up to second in the championship, knowing that he would have to win the final race of the season if he was to stand any chance of taking the title away from Bushell.

With Cook starting on pole and Bushell lining up third on the grid, the stage was set for an epic showdown between the pair. The opening lap proved to be chaotic, with Cook and Westbourne Motorsport's James Colburn coming together at Paddock Hill bend, which saw the latter make an early exit from the race. As a result of the contact, WDE Motorsport's Paul Rivett took the lead, with Cook following close behind, while Bushell had dropped to seventh. Knowing that only a race win would give him hope of lifting the title, Cook made a late lunge up the inside of Rivett at Paddock Hill bend, but too much speed sent his Clio flying across the track and ended up in the gravel trap, and as a result ending any chance he had of winning the title. With his main title rival out, Bushell powered on and came home in third place, with Paul Rivett taking his first overall win of the season ahead of SV Racing's Alex Morgan.

At the end of yet another exciting season in the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup, Bushell took the championship by an impressive 43 points on 415 points ahead of Cook with 372 and Stilp with 351. It's not just the driver's title that was decided that weekend; Jordan Stilp clinched the Graduate Cup with 419 points, just 11 ahead of Whorton-Eales and Cook, who finished joint second. Elsewhere, Paul Rivett took the Master's Cup crown on 481 points, 33 ahead of his nearest rival all season Lee Pattison, and SV Racing had done enough before the weekend's racing to take the Entrant's Trophy title, which they had sealed at the penultimate weekend at Rockingham five weeks prior to the finale.

Now that the season has finished, it will be interesting to see who will be out on the grid for next seasons Clio Cup, with BTCC teams such as AmD Tuning.com and Team BMR already expressing their interest in expanding to the series next season, as well as rumours of an expansion at Jam Sport.

Written by Alan Faulkner
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Motorsport Photography

A promising start for Ladell

WDE Motorsport's Charlie Ladell has had a promising start to his career in the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup, with the 17 year old finishing consistently in the points since making his debut in the championship at Oulton Park for rounds 7 and 8.

After another strong weekend during rounds 15 and 16 at Rockingham, I caught up with him to find out how he's found the switch from the Fiesta Championship to the Clio Cup.

"It's a steep learning curve" he told me, "the quality of the drivers in the Clio Cup is as high as any other championship in the country so I've had to adapt quickly in order to compete with the rest of the grid, and also the Clio's different to what I've been used to driving in the Fiesta Championship so it's taken me a little while to adapt to it but I'm definitely getting there now and the results are starting to come our way".

With strong results becoming more consistent, Charlie admitted that the turning point in his season came at Snetterton; "My most memorable round so far has got to be Snetterton, I had really good pace there and managed to take a 4th place finish, my best result of the season to date, and I just hope that I can continue to finish strongly and possibly go one step further".

Charlie made his debut in the Clio Cup with WDE Motorsport, a team being run by championship veteran Paul Rivett, but he explained that his partnership with the team has been going on longer than this season. He told me "I've been working with WDE Motorsport since the start of 2012, and I won the Fiesta Junior Championship with the team that same year so I have a great relationship with everyone there, Paul is great to work with too and I definitely benefit from his vast experience, not just from the championship but his race craft as well, and he's really helped my progress as a driver, certainly much quicker than if I was doing it on my own."

After joining the season part way through the championship, Charlie has confirmed that he will be running in the championship full time next season with WDE Motorsport, presumably alongside team mate and manager Paul Rivett, and is hoping that he will be able to battle for race wins over the course of next season. As for the end of this season at Brands Hatch in four weeks time, Charlie's ambitions are more modest; "We've had a great season so far so for the Brands finale it'd be great if we could get in the top 5 in both rounds, I'm confident I've got the pace in order to do it, and if I get the chance I'd love to be fighting it out for a spot on the podium".

Written and interviewed by Alan Faulkner
Photo Credit: DR Hurrell Photographs

Clio Championship battle heats up ahead of Brands finale

The fight for the Courier Connections Renault UK Clio Cup took another twist during rounds 15 and 16 at Rockingham, with Team Pyro’s Mike Bushell taking the lead in the championship standings with just two rounds left in the series.

The 25 year old came into the rounds at the Northamptonshire circuit in second place in the championship standings, just 19 points behind SV Racing’s Josh Cook, and looked to continue his recent form after a double podium finish at Knockhill. Bushell managed to do exactly that in qualifying, taking pole position for round 15 by just 0.120 seconds ahead of championship rival Cook, and started on the front row again in round 16 behind Cook. However, it was later revealed that Cook had received a 10 place grid penalty from an incident at Knockhill, meaning he would start 12^th for the first race of the weekend.

Bushell took full advantage of pole position, taking a lights to flag victory in comfortable fashion, crossing the line 4 seconds ahead of 20Ten’s Jordan Stilp, another driver who has been impressive during the course of the season, with SV Racing’s Ash Hand taking the final step on the podium. As for Cook, he was only able to manage 10^th in the race, which was soon promoted to 9^th after Westbourne Motorsport’s James Colburn was handed a 5 second penalty for an incident that occurred during the race. Despite the penalty, Cook had dropped to second in the championship behind Bushell, meaning the SV Racing driver would have to take a podium finish at least to close the gap to Bushell.

Cook started round 16 on pole position ahead of Bushell, but a poor getaway off the line seen him drop to 4^th after the first lap, with Bushell taking an early lead and, like in the first race of the weekend, didn’t look back for the remainder of the race. As for Cook though, thing went from bad to worse as he was one of four drivers that had been handed a drive through penalty for a false start, along with his team mates Alex Morgan, Ash Hand and Clio Cup debutant Simon Horrobin – Ant Whorton-Eales being the only SV Racing driver who had not been handed a drive through penalty; and to add further insult to injury, Cook was forced to retire after issues with his car forced him firstly into the pits, and then in the gravel trap with just two laps of the race to go.

With Cook enduring another miserable weekend, Bushell’s perfect weekend meant that he left Rockingham with a healthy 34 point lead from Jordan Stilp, who is now in 2^nd place in the championship standings after clinching a double podium, with Cook two points behind in third place. Stilp had also taken the championship lead in the Graduate Cup standings, just nine points ahead of Ant Whorton-Eales in 2^nd and ten points ahead of third placed James Colburn, while in the Masters Cup Lee Pattison maintained his lead in the standings, 31 points ahead of WDE Motorsport’s Paul Rivett, who had a strong weekend with a 4^th place finish in round 15 and 2^nd place in round 16.

As the Clio’s are missing for the next BTCC event at Silverstone, the stage is set for what will prove to be an intense showdown for the next driver to be crowned the Clio Cup champion of 2014, with 5 drivers mathematically still in the hunt for the title, although realistically it is between three drivers – Mike Bushell, Jordan Stilp and Josh Cook.

Written by Alan Faulkner

Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Motorsport Photography