Team Parker unveil revised colours for 2019

Team Parker Racing has shown off a revised livery that will be used by Stephen Jelley for the 2019 BTCC season.

Jelley remains with the team for a third straight season in what is now the only BMW 125i M Sport on the grid after West Surrey Racing elected to switch to the 330i M Sport for the new campaign.

The 36-year-old endured a mixed first season with the car in 2018, showing strong pace at Knockhill where he ran inside the podium positions until a clash with Colin Turkington forced him into retirement, but securing just two points finishes.

However, with a season of experience with the car under his belt and a number of improvements over the winter, Jelley said he was going into 2019 feeling confident about some stronger results on track.

“This is the first time in ten years that I’m going to be returning to the same team, with the same race engineer, and mechanics,” he said. “I’ll have consistency in the package and a car that has been vastly improved over the winter, which is very exciting for me. It’s all looking like it will be our best BTCC season so far. For a small team it is about building, and we’ve done a lot of that behind the scenes.

“This year is definitely the one that will reflect the effort that has been put in by everyone. There were a couple of flashes of what we were able achieve in 2018, and we’ll have a significantly better car this time out so I think we can really build on those positives. We are certainly a lot further ahead of where we were this time last year, so I think we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

Team boss Stuart Parker shared Jelley’s optimism about the year ahead.

“We are delighted to be racing with Stephen once again,” he said. “We’ve been together now for six years through the Porsche Carrera Cup GB and BTCC and he is truly part of the team. We know we have the ability to be running in the top-ten and once you are in that position who knows what could happen?”