Motorbase looking for podium return

Motorbase Performance will be looking to achieve podium finishes as the BTCC heads into the second half of the season, starting with Snetterton this weekend.

To date the team, which joined the BTCC in 2006, has only ever achieved one podium finish and that was for David Pinkney back at Knockhill in 2006. With this year’s cars looking much stronger in recent races, the team will be hoping to challenge for the honours of top BMW team with the likes of Team RAC and BMW Dealer Team UK.

“The team has done a lot of hard work and I’m a lot happier with where we were at Croft,” said team boss Dave Bartrum. “We were in contention all weekend and we learnt a lot.” Indeed the team was running second in round 15 with Rob Collard until being forced to retire after contact with Adam Jones.

“A fourth and a fifth at Croft was really good for the team,” said Collard. “Snetterton should really suit the car, and it should be good. We should come back strong at Snetterton.”

In the recent BTCC test session at Snetterton the Motorbase team had a mixed two days. Steven Kane could only manage 14th fastest time in both sessions on the first day after completing substantially more mileage than Collard. The second day of testing saw both cars firmly placed in the lower ranks of the top ten in the thick of the other BMW runners. If the team is to achieve a podium at Snetterton they will have to prove themselves as the ‘best of the rest’ behind SEAT, who dominated the recent tyre test.