Aon Focus’ receive significant upgrades

Team Aon head to Donington Park this weekend confident of making major strides forward after having tried and tested several significant upgrades for the cars. Modifications to the engine, suspension and aerodynamics of the cars should enable the team, who last won a race in the championship back in 2005, to make a much anticipated jump up the grid.

Team boss Mike Earle has admitted that he is pleased that the Donington Park races this weekend were not canceled, as it provides the team with yet more valuable track time and the opportunity to prove the pace they believe they have found.

“We are looking forward to Donington and are very pleased the event was not postponed, as appeared possible until last week,” said Earle. “We have been burning the midnight oil to introduce new parts and to develop our cars using all the information we have gathered from the season’s first two events.

“Since Thruxton we have managed to get a car in a wind-tunnel and spent some time analysing suspension geometry on a K&C rig. In an ideal world we would have completed these tasks much earlier, but with our deal coming together so close to the beginning of the season this is the only possibility we had open to us.

“We have learnt a tremendous amount with these processes and, together with some engine development work that was always scheduled, we are confident that at Donington we will show a step forwards in our performance. We need the races at Donington to see exactly how far we have progressed.

“I’m delighted with the attitude of everyone in the team, who have worked tirelessly to move our programme along. That includes the drivers, Tom and Alan, who have been tremendous. They have never let their heads drop when it would have been understandable if they had.”

Neither Tom Chilton or Alan Morrison have been able to finish inside the top ten points-paying positions this year, with the team’s best result being a brace of 11th place finishes for Chilton at Brands Hatch. Some of the problems with the car’s pace have been put down to engine mapping issues, although both drivers have also struggled to find the optimum balance in the car which continues to be developed.