Small improvements “all add up” for Motorbase

Motorbase team manager Oly Collins has expressed confidence that the Ford team can fight at the sharp end of the grid when the new British Touring Car Championship season kicks off next month at Donington Park.

Having switched from the Focus RS to the new Focus ST for 2020, Motorbase topped the times in the recent two-day test at Snetterton thanks to Rory Butcher, who also showed strong pace in the car during the season launch at Silverstone back in March.

Motorbase goes into the new season looking to bounce back from a tough 2019 season that yielded just one win and Collins said the early impressions of the new car was that it would be a more competitive package in the condensed 2020 schedule.

“It seems to be a positive in all areas,” he said. “The improvements are all small ones in every area and it all adds up. From early testing it seems to have given us a car which could be good in particular conditions. The new car seems more consistent in any condition.

“It’s still very early days with the new car and we’re still learning, which is why these test days are probably more important to us than maybe some of our competition who have a year or two under their belts with their cars.

“We’re a race team and we’re here to win. The BTCC offers a format where you can compete with the manufacturer Teams so there is no reason at all why we shouldn’t be confident to win. That said it’s a hugely competitive series with some great teams and drivers, so it’s tough.

“Motorbase as a team has put a lot of time, money and hard work into designing, building and developing the new car. Pre-season testing has gone very well and the pace looks good. We’ve got some very good people throughout our team and we’re confident that 2020 can be the year we get to prove that.”

Having secured the Independents’ title last year with AmD, Butcher returns to the team that gave him his series debut eager to fight for more silverware and the Scot said it was vital to hit the ground running when the field arrives at Donington in a few weeks time.

“The new car is a big step forward on the older Ford Focus RS,” he said, “mainly in terms of drivability. Wherever we go the car seems to be in the window or very close to it and only requires little set up changes to find the sweet spot.

“Both the team’s and my own aspirations are to pose a real challenge this year and we have real intent going into round one. We face a gruelling compact season with many challenges ahead, so we first need to keep focussed on doing our jobs the very best we can and give our best performance.”