btcc:action >> Teams >> Team Dynamics
Team Dynamics (Team Halfords) |
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2008 Drivers: Tom Chilton, Gordon Shedden |
Latest Team Halfords News Oulton Park race 3 - Shedden on top again |
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Founded: 1991 BTCC Debut: Silverstone, 14 July 1991 BTCC Races: 334* BTCC Wins: 36* BTCC Podiums: 110* Website: www.teamhalfords.com Website: www.rimstock.co.uk Team Principal: Steve Neal Based: Pershore, Worcestershire 2008 Cars: Honda Civic (x2) * after Round 9 2008 |
TEAM Dynamics, currently known as Team Halfords, have been one of the most successful BTCC teams in recent years and one of, if not the most successful independent team that there has ever been. With the 2005 and 2006 Driver's titles firmly under its belt, the team has since been consistently a front running outfit ready to challenge the full works teams. Even in the days of the expensive and mighty Super Touring cars Team Dynamics managed to run Matt Neal competitively and the team became the first independent outfit to win a race outright in 1999. | |||
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| The outfit first entered the BTCC in 1992 as an independent runner, fielding a BMW M3 (right) at the start of the year, before switching to a BMW 318is for the latter part of the season. Throughout the team's first years in the BTCC they were immediately on the pace of their competitors, finishing second in the Independent before going on to win the category the following year in 1993. Independent drivers crowns would follow for Matt in 1995, 1999 and 2000 but front running success took a while to come. Despite being an independent front runner during the mid-nineties, the team sometimes lacked consistency vital for the independent championship and so mised out on the title between 1996 and 1998. |
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| However the 1999 season was to provide a breakthrough for the team. With a grid full of manufacturer entries, at the opening race at Donington Park Matt Neal and Team Dynamics saw off the opposition from the likes of Renault, Ford, Vauxhall, Nissan, Honda and Volvo to take a £250,000 cheque for being the first Independent racer to win a race. Throughout the year and the following season in 2000 the squad was able to competitively mix with the works teams using its ex-works Nissan Primera.
In 2001 Matt was supposed to race a works Peugeot in the new-look BTCC but the deal fell through after the first race weekend, and so he looked elsewhere to race. Team Dynamics elected to compete a part season in the 2001 European Touring Car Championship, the final full year of Super Touring racing in the world, using its Nissan Primera. After this the team would take time away from Touring Car Racing before returning to the BTCC in 2003. 2003 saw the team field one of the competitive Vauxhall Astra Coupe's for Gareth Howell. While the team found its feet with new regulations that the team were not used to, Howell took the car to 5th equal overall in the independent drivers championship. The season would prove to be a learning year for the team. The current partnership with Halfords began in 2004 as Team Dynamics bought a pair of ex-works Honda Civic's and raced them for Matt Neal and Dan Eaves. The cars were on the pace and saw the team take 4 wins but eventually lose out in the independent titles to the now-independent West Surrey Racing cars. In 2005 the team opted not to buy year-old chassis to race but to take part in development of its own cars. The result was the now-named Team Halfords racing two (later three cars with Gareth Howell completing a part-season) imported Honda Integra's. The cars proved to be dominant from the start with their aerodynamic efficiency, superb weight distribution and bullet-proof reliability allowing the team to win every championship that it contested in. Twelve wins out of thirty races during the season stands to prove the cars success and dominance. The following year would prove to be very similar to the last as Team Halfords continued with the Integra. Once again every championship that the team contested was scooped up and this time an impresive 14 wins from 30 races were notched up. Things were set to change, however, as BTC-spec cars would no longer be eligible for outright championship honours from 2007 onwards, meaning that the team would need to find a new car to race for the following year. | ||||
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As a result of the change in regulations, Team Halfords opted to build and race the new shape Honda Civic in 2007. No longer eligible for independent championship honours as a result of Honda UK stepping in to ensure that the team and Civic's were present on the grid, the team were neither a full works entry. The team bitterly disputed the change, but with initial support from Honda the team suddenly found itself in middle ground between works and independent for the first time in its history. Nevertheless, with drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden the team took 3rd and 4th in the drivers championship and was the best of the non-works teams. With no independent category entered in to win, the team took no titles in 2007 in stark contrast to sweeping the board in '05 and '06. | |||
BTCC Seasons
| 2008: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Halfords, Honda Civic |
| 2007: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Halfords, Honda Civic 3rd in Teams Championship, 3rd in Drivers Championship (Gordon Shedden) |
| 2006: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Halfords, Honda Integra 1st in Teams Championship, 1st in Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 1st in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 1st in Independent Teams Championship |
| 2005: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Halfords, Honda Integra 1st in Teams Championship, 1st in Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 1st in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 1st in Indepenent Teams Championship |
| 2004: | British Touring Car Championship, Computeach Racing with Halfords, Honda Civic TypeR 4th in Teams Championship, 5th in Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 3rd in Independent Drivers Championship (Dan Eaves) |
| 2003: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics, Vauxhall Astra Coupe 9th in Teams Championship, 16th in Drivers Championship (Gareth Howell), 5th in Independent Drivers Championship (Gareth Howell) |
| 2001: | European Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics, Nissan Primera |
| 2000: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics Max Power Racing, Nissan Primera 4th in Teams Championship, 8th in Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 1st in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal) |
| 1999: | British Touring Car Championship, Max Power Racing Team Dynamics, Nissan Primera 6th in Teams Championship, 9th in Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 1st in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal) |
| 1998: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics Max Power, Nissan Primera 8th in Teams Championship, 13th in Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 3rd in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal) |
| 1997: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics, Ford Mondeo/Nissan Primera 5th in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal) |
| 1996: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics, Ford Mondeo 12th in Teams Championship, 3rd in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal) |
| 1995: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics, Ford Mondeo 9th in Teams Championship, 1st in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal) |
| 1993: | British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics, BMW 318is 1st in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal) |
| 1992: | British Touring Car Championship, Rimstock Racing, BMW M3 / BMW 318is 16th in Drivers Championship (Matt Neal), 2nd in Independent Drivers Championship (Matt Neal) |
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Drivers Championship
Final 2008 Standings| Pos. | Driver | Pts |
| 1. | F Giovanardi | 262 |
| 2. | Mat Jackson | 226 |
| 3. | Jason Plato | 223 |
| 4. | Colin Turkington | 212 |
| 5. | Matt Neal | 185 |
| 6. | T Onslow-Cole | 170 |
| 7. | Gordon Shedden | 144 |
| 8. | Darren Turner | 133 |
| 9. | Adam Jones | 119 |
| 10. | Tom Chilton | 107 |
| 11. | Steven Kane | 86 |
| 12. | Robert Collard | 84 |
| 13. | Andrew Jordan | 56 |
| 14. | Mike Jordan | 34 |
| 15. | Stephen Jelley | 14 |
| 16. | Michael Doyle | 5 |
| 17. | Matt Allison | 3 |
| 17. | Chris Stockton | 3 |
| 19. | Harry Vaulkhard | 2 |
| 19. | Jason Hughes | 2 |
| 21. | Erkut Kizilirmak | 1 |
| 21. | John George | 1 |
Manufacturer's C'ship
| Pos. | Make | Pts |
| 1. | Vauxhall | 697 |
| 2. | Seat | 545 |
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