Hunter Abbott looking forward to front-wheel-drive switch

Hunter Abbott is excited ahead of the 2016 British Touring Car Season and is looking forward to “seeing the other side of the coin” as he switches to the front-wheel-drive Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze.

Abbott, who finished 21st in the 2015 BTCC standings, made the switch to Power Maxed Racing in the off-season following Rob Austin Racing leaving the series owing to team boss Rob Austin joining Handy Motorsport for 2016. Abbott’s move means the 35-year-old will contest a front-wheel-drive car for the first time in his BTCC career.

“I’m looking forward to experiencing the other side of the coin with front-wheel-drive versus rear-wheel-drive,” Abbott told TouringCarTimes during the four-hour test session at Donington Park. “I’ve got to learn a lot, front-wheel-drive is totally different to rear-wheel-drive so it’ll be interesting to see. [Two time BTCC champion, Jason] Plato spent so much time criticising rear-wheel-drive for the last two years so it’ll be interesting to see the other side of the coin and see what it’s like. There are definitely pros and cons and to be honest it’s probably pretty fair.”

The Power Maxed Racing team were arguably one of the breakout stars of 2015, with drivers Josh Cook and Dave Newsham putting in impressive performances in the brace of Chevrolet Cruzes throughout the year. The team signified its ambition over the off-season, stating they had invested heavily in upgrading the car, a mindset shared with Abbott, who is aiming to pick up some silverware during the upcoming season.

“Last year it’s fair to say me and Rob were front of the midfield,” explained Abbott. “We had our moments but the majority of the time we were 10th to 15th. Now for me and Rob I don’t think it was a true reflection of our abilities, proven from results in other series. For me, this year I really want to make a step forward and break that regular top 10, hopefully top 5 and then pick up a cup or two hopefully through the year.

“It’s early days, with all the suspension changes over the year with the RML kit, it’s like pressing a reset button, you don’t know who’ll be quick or not. Some guys have done a lot of running and research and computer simulation, we haven’t had the luxury of doing all of that but we’ve got some very talented individuals here, we’ll see.”