Matt Simpson: “Touring cars has always been my dream”

Matt Simpson says joining the British Touring Car Championship in 2016 is a dream move, and he is hoping the proven machinery he will compete in will help him improve throughout the year.

Simpson will campaign an ex-Team Dynamics Honda Civic Type-R for Speedworks Motorsport, and has an extensive programme of winter testing planned including trips to Spain and Portugal.

The 34-year-old has a varied racing CV, initially competing on short ovals before moving onto to circuits and stepping up to touring car racing this season.

He is hopeful his experience in racing at close quarters will help him as he takes on the often physical BTCC.

“I started out racing on quarter-mile ovals. I did mini-stocks, Legends and then National Hot Rods, which is the touring cars of oval racing,” said Simpson to TouringCarTimes.

“There are 30 cars on a quarter mile oval and the fastest man starts at the back. You’ve got to work your way to the front in 35 laps and there’s quite a lot of rubbing, very similar to the touring car scene.

“I then moved up to the Quaife Intermarque series and loved it. I won the championship two years running. I won eight from 16 races in year one and 10 from 16 in year two.

“The touring cars has always been my dream. I do a lot of exhausts for the touring car teams and we started talking. Now I’m standing here at Autosport with my own car!

“I still can’t believe I’m driving one this year. There are so many top drivers out there. I’ve got a lot to learn, so I just want to improve as the year goes on and get faster.”

One of the reasons for choosing the current title-winning Civic was for Simpson to have a car he knows will be sorted, so he can work on improving his own performance.

“We have a lot of winter testing booked, I think we have 16 or 18 days. We’re off to Spain in early February, Portugal at the end of February, so I have a lot of seat time. You’re only as good as the amount of seat time you have,” he said.

“Dynamics have been very helpful – Matt [Neal], Gordon [Shedden] and Barry [Plowman] have all been very helpful. We’ve got shared data and it made sense to get a proven car. I’ve got a lot to learn, so I’d rather get a proven car and get myself up to speed with the data from last year.

“At least I’ll know if we’re not fast enough it’s me and not the car, rather than the unknown of ‘is it the car or the driver?'”

Looking at the longer term, Simpson added: “Every driver on the grid wants to win. We’ve got a five year plan and we know it’s not going to be easy, so I’ve just got to build my experience and get as much knowledge as we can.”