Mountune refute criticism of “awesome” Ford EcoBoost engine

Mountune technical director David Mountain has defended the “awesome” Ford EcoBoost engine in the wake of criticism from rival BTCC teams about its performance in recent races.

Jason Plato, Steve Neal and Rob Austin have all spoken out against the newly developed engine to TouringCarTimes in recent weeks, following Motorbase Performance’s hugely successful return to the championship.

Lead driver Mat Jackson has taken two pole positions and two wins at the recent rounds at Rockingham and Silverstone, prompting claims that the engine is too fast and hasn’t had its performance balanced correctly.

Mountain has issued a statement in reply to the recent article published on the matter by TouringCarTimes.

He said: “The new mountune prepared Ford EcoBoost NGTC engine has been through the exact same process as all the other engines racing in the BTCC. We submitted the cylinder head to TOCA for flow testing in 2014 and also the cam profile and from the results of the tests, TOCA issued the boost figure to us.

“The cars have also carried the correct success ballast at all times so to say that the engine and car have not had the correct balance of performance is totally incorrect.

“It’s true to say the new engine is strong but it should be clear to everyone that there is very little difference between the Honda engine and ours, indeed all the front running cars are very close.

“It’s also clear that the team have really improved the chassis and Mat is doing a great job, therefore everyones concentration should be focused on supporting the team for the final round.”