Expanded Infiniti programme possible for 2020 season

Bob Moffat, the boss of Aiden Moffat’s Laser Tools Racing team, has revealed that the team could expand beyond a single-car entry into the British Touring Car Championship in 2020 – with the potential to run as many as three cars if there is sufficient interest in the upgraded Q50.

The Moffat family-run team took its BTCC programme in-house this season after splitting with Ciceley Motorsport during the winter and then elected to make a mid-season car switch – replacing the Mercedes A-Class it has campaigned since 2015 with one of the Infinitis acquired during the off-season.

Having broken into the points for the first time at Knockhill, where he scored in all three races, Moffat then secured a fine podium finish at Silverstone, benefitting from a switch to wet tyres to storm through the grid in the final race of the weekend.

It marked the best result for the car by far, with 17 points for second place being more than the two Infiniti Q50s had scored in a combined 48 starts previously.

With further development of the car to come over the winter, plans are already being put in place for 2020 and Moffat Sr admitted that there was interest from drivers in a potentially expanded Infiniti programme.

Such a move would be dependent on the team acquiring the TOCA BTCC Licences (TBLs) required to run additional cars in the series.

“After Oulton Park we decided to build the Infiniti and we did it in eight days,” Moffat Sr told TouringCarTimes. “The team did a fantastic job to get the car ready to hit the track. While there is always talk about great drivers, I’m a firm believer that you need a great team, and I think we have a fantastic team here to have got the car ready in that time.

“We knew we’d be nowhere at the Snetterton test that followed, but we worked to improve the car for the Snetterton race weekend, and then again for Thruxton and so on. We have done exactly what we said we would do, as these five rounds have all been about learning the car and seeing if Aiden liked it. For him to have now scored a podium finish with it is fantastic.

“I think there is so much we have learned with the car, and we know there are bits and pieces we need to do that we can’t do when the season is going on as we haven’t got the time. There are a lot of improvements we can still make and a lot of potential in the Infiniti, and I think that is shown by the fact that we’ve had drivers expressing an interest in it.

“We have two Infinitis, and we also have a show car, so we could make a third quite quickly if we needed to. I’m not really interested in running another team, but it would be nice to have someone else in a car so we can share data, and I think it would help to push the car on dramatically.”

A key part of the early development of the Q50 – which is running on RML-spec parts for the first time having previously appeared on older GPRM components – was a day on track with former champion Ash Sutton at the wheel, and Moffat admitted that it was a day that hadn’t just led to an improvement in the car.

“Having Ash in the car has been absolutely massive,” he said. “He loved the car and drove it very well, and I think a switch flicked in Aiden after working with Ash, as we saw a different Aiden when we got to Knockhill and then went to Silverstone.

“Ash isn’t just a tremendous driver, he is also a tremendous professional, and you could see that in how he worked with the team, and how he analysed things and worked with his engineers. He is a proper pro and it was fantastic to work with him.”