Sunshine.co.uk will be entering the 2010 season in the BTCC using the Honda Integra for the second successive season and feel confident that it will be a good year for the team.

We’re really looking forward to the season,” said Chris Brown, Sunshine.co.uk MD. “Tech-Speed has put a lot of hard work into the car during the winter and they looking stunning in their new livery. We have a full year behind us now running the Honda so we have to look to build on the success we enjoyed last year. I’m confident we will do well, especially after Paul’s performance in testing where he set some good times on older tyres and with more fuel in the car. John has also been lapping well and has settled into the team quickly, so we’re confident for the year ahead.”

Paul O’Neill will be joined this year by John George. 2010 will be the first time that Goerge has had the chance to work with a team-mate and he’s relishing the prospect.

“Having a team-mate who is prepared to give me a hand will be a huge help this season – I haven’t had that before,” he said.

“I think I will learn a lot from Paul during the year and in the morning session I went quicker than I ever have before, and on old rubber, so I think that says that I can do a lot better than I have in the past. I’d really like to score at least one top ten finish from each round and I feel that would be a massive improvement for me. There are no mugs out there and it will always be difficult, but I feel we can achieve that aim this season.”

Paul O’Neill will be looking to expand on his podium finish at Snetterton this season after Tech-Speed have spent the winter improving one of the oldest BTCC cars on the grid. Paul managed to finish the test at Brands in 8th and just over a second a drift of the works Silverline Chevrolet.

“The car was really good but personally, I feel I could have done better,” said Paul. “The time we set was good considering it was on older tyres and I didn’t really get the most out of the newer rubber we put on the car, but setting times wasn’t important. It was all about looking at some developments Tech-Speed have made to the cars over the winter and they worked really well. The car has had a full rebuild over the winter and it’s in much better shape than it was at the end of 2009. It’s in top shape and should do the business this season.”

Photo Credit: Pete Mainey

James Mappin is the editor-in-chief covering the British Touring Car Championship. You can contact him at james@btcccrazy.co.uk, on twitter @BTCCCrazy or on his personal twitter account @jamesmappin.