Robertshaw and Vaulkhard part ways

Robertshaw Racing will not run any Chevrolet Lacetti’s next season in the BTCC it has emerged, after the Vaulkhards parted ways with the team.

The cars, which are both owned by Nigel Vaulkhard, are currently up for sale and it is looking increasingly unlikely that they or Vaulkhard will be on the grid next. “At the end of the day we just couldn’t have another season scrimping for every penny like we did this year,” team manager Joe Bradley told autosport.com.

“We’ve come to an amicable arrangement with the Vaulkhards to go our separate ways.”

Vaulkhard himself admitted to crash.net that it is hard securing any backing at the moment as the current economic crisis continues. “I am talking to a few big companies at the moment, but the credit crunch isn’t making it easy to bring in sponsorship because people aren’t keen on spending too much money,” he said.

“However, I’ll keep working on things and fingers crossed, because I really want to be back in the BTCC next year.

Meanwhile there are doubts that Alan Taylor, who raced a Honda Integra with Robertshaw this year, will return to the grid in 2009. “I don’t think Alan will be back, ” Bradley told autosport.com. “I think the BTCC was something he desperately wanted to do, but now it’s done I think that will be it.”

“Having said that though, it wouldn’t surprise me if he called us in February and said: ‘Right guys, I’m bored with the off-season, let’s go racing’.”