Onyx Ford celebrates points finish at Monza in first race appearance

The Ford Focus ST built by Onyx Race Engineering, which took part in its first full race last weekend at Monza after an aborted start to the season at Malaysia in March, scored points on its debut thanks to a consistent run in the first race by test and development driver Tom Boardman.

Boardman, also now the first British driver to take part in a TCR International Series race, had tested the car the week prior at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, before the Littlehampton-based team sent the car out to Monza for its first proper run in the series, where the car was run by touring car stalwarts Proteam Racing at the race.

Boardman finished race one in tenth place, a minute behind the race winning Honda Civic TCR of Gianni Morbidelli, completing the first full race distance for the team’s all-new Focus ST.

“It was a tough weekend for the team, and they did a great job,” said Boardman. “The car is fantastic to drive, it’s brilliant through the high-speed stuff, changes direction really well and is particularly good under braking. There are a couple of areas which we know can still be improved and further development will sort those and then the car will be really competitive.”

The car has been entered for this weekend’s race at the Salzburgring in Austria, where the team’s regular driver Diego Romanini is scheduled to drive the car.