Motorbase Performance have confirmed that Mat Jackson, Liam Griffin and Aron Smith will drive for the team in this year’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. The team will once again run three Mountune powered Ford Focus STs, though this time for the full campaign (the third car was only run for the final three meetings of the season in 2011).

For Jackson it will be his third season with the team, and his sixth consecutive campaign in the series. A runner up in 2008 and widely tipped as a future champion, the 30 year old from Henley in Arden is hoping that the continuity and familiarity of racing with the same team can help him to go one better and secure his maiden title.

He said: “It’s fantastic to be back driving with Motorbase for the third year in a row – it feels like home now!  We have the same core personnel in place for this season, which I believe is key to our challenge for the outright driver’s title. 2012 looks to be an exciting year in the BTCC. With the New NGTC regulations being adopted by many of the front running teams, the season could prove to be very interesting indeed.  We showed last year that we have the car and skills in place to compete against the ‘big boys’ and hopefully the other teams will experience some teething problems that we can capitalise on!”

Alongside Jackson for the second season in a row will be Liam Griffin, who made the step up to the BTCC for the first time in 2011 and produced some decent performances in his maiden campaign. Of signing to remain in the series for another year, he said: “The BTCC is the premier Motorsport championship in the country and it is a privilege to be a part of it. Having finished consistently at the end of last season I feel I have given myself something to build on. Half the battle is not feeling out of your depth, the other half is actually not being out of your depth. I certainly feel like I have completed the first part but have to now see if we can turn that into being a bit more competitive.”

Joining the team for his first full season in the series is Aron Smith who was runner up in the Renault Clio Cup last year and also made a one off appearance in the BTCC at Knockhill with rival squad Triple Eight, impressively scoring a point in his first race. Of his move to Motorbase, Smith said: “I couldn’t be more excited about this season; the past two years have literally been building up to this moment. Motorbase Performance is the type of team I know I’ll feel right at home in, this all feels like a dream come true and I can’t wait for the racing to begin!”

Team Principal David Bartrum is pleased with the team’s development over the winter and confident ahead of the start of the 2012 season. He said: “We’re very excited about this year. We will be continuing with the same cars from last year which we learnt a lot from in our first season with them in 2011. We have been busy further improving over the winter, so to also keep the continuity of Mat and Liam as well is very important for us moving forward this year, and to welcome Aron to the team is fantastic.

“Aron has settled straight in to the team and has impressed us all in testing. I’m sure he will be competitive very quickly this year. Liam has had a year in the BTCC under his belt now so knows what to expect this year so we’re looking forward to him hitting the ground running come round one. And with Mat, he will be starting in a car he knows well which has been further improved so there is no reason why we can’t mount a serious championship challenge as we did last year, but hope for some better luck in 2012!”

The season begins at Motorbase’s local circuit, Brands Hatch in Kent on the weekend of the 31^st March/1^st April.

Photo Credit: Pete Mainey (http://www.psmmotorsportimages.co.uk/)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Surgay is the Porsche Carrera Cup GB correspondant for 2011. Tom's currently studying English Language with Journalism at Huddersfield University. You can contact him at tom@btcccrazy.co.uk or on twitter @tsurgay.