Last outing for the AmD Volkwagen Golf this weekend

AmD Tuning will put to pasture their Volkswagen Golf touring car after this weekend, with one final fling for the car at the hands of its first driver in the BTCC, Shaun Hollamby.

The driver and team principal of the team will run with car #40 this weekend on the Golf, which has not been raced since the first half of this season.

The team began the year with BTCC veteran James Kaye driving, and made a switch to a rented Honda Civic S2000 car for Snetterton just after the summer break, but has not returned to the track since. The Kent-based team will now bring the Golf out of its short sabbatical for one last race, with S2000 cars set to be retired from the BTCC from 2014.

The team’s target for the weekend is to pick up at least one victory in the Jack Sears Trophy for S2000 cars, with the other two rivals in the class being Lea Wood’s JWT Performance Vauxhall Vectra and Liam Griffin’s Motorbase Ford Focus.

“I’ve had the chance to do a shakedown in the car ahead of the weekend, and it’s great to be able to get back behind the wheel one last time,” said Shaun.

“It’s had a full rebuild since it last raced at Croft before the summer break and has been fitted with new suspension, and we want to try and send it out on a high.

“This is the end of a four year journey with the Golf and it’s kind of appropriate that we go full circle with me back behind the wheel on its final weekend. I’ve not been racing this season so will be a little rusty when practice gets underway, but I don’t think it will take me long to get back up to speed and I’m really looking forward to it.

“It’s a mark of how popular the Golf has been in the series that we’ve been able to gain support from Scorpion Exhausts for its final appearance in the series, and we’ll have a lot of people coming along to cheer us on at our home circuit.

“On track Lea Wood has been a deserving winner of the Jack Sears Trophy this year as he’s been the most consistent driver and he won’t be easy to beat, but I’m confident that we can challenge him for class honours.”

The team are continuing to work on plans for 2014, with a Next Generation Touring Car programme under evaluation. The team had originally hoped to build an NGTC-specification Vauxhall Astra for the last half of this season, but had to adjust their plans at the start of the year.

“This year has been a rollercoaster one for us and hasn’t really gone as we planned, but there is no doubt that the BTCC remains the place to be – and we want to be part of going forwards,” Shaun added. “From the moment we joined the grid back in 2010, the support we have had from TOCA as well as from the fans has been absolutely fantastic. In my eyes, this is the best touring car championship there is, and we’re keen to stay involved in the series in 2014.”