AmD hope to keep Ollie Jackson and add second Audi for 2017

AmD Tuning say they are hoping to extend their partnership with Ollie Jackson into 2017, with team boss Shaun Hollamby also stating his ambition to run a second Audi S3 if he can secure another TOCA BTCC Licence (TBL).

Both driver and team owner have said they would like to continue into 2017, following a season finale at Brands Hatch where results didn’t quite match the potential shown.

Jackson finished the first race in 18th and was making progress towards the top 10 in the second, before contact with the Team Hard Toyota of Jake Hill hurt the handling of his Audi and meant he slipped back to 15th by the finish.

Further forward progress was made in the finale until a tag from Aron Smith’s Volkswagen at Hawthorns saw the Audi spin into the barriers on the inside of the circuit – with the resultant damage forcing Ollie back into the pits to retire.

Assessing his day and the season, Jackson said: “It’s a case of what might have been in the final race, but it’s good that we have ended the year showing strong pace in the Audi again.

“In race three on the soft tyre, the car felt absolutely mega and I really think we were robbed of our best result of the year. Overall though, recent events have allowed us to show the potential of our package and I think it bodes well for the future.

“I would love to stay with the team next season, and hopefully we can sit down and do a deal early so that we can get the RML components onto the car and then embark on a proper testing programme for 2017. We’ve shown that we can match the pace of the front pack, and we need to make sure we are ready to hit the ground running next year.”

Hollamby was also pleased with the performance on track, and shared in Jackson’s desire to extend the partnership into 2017 as part of an expanded BTCC programme.

“The pace in the car has been really strong again this weekend and it’s a shame that we didn’t get the result in race three, but it happens,” he said. “Despite that, I feel we have ended the year on a high with the pace we have shown throughout race day and it has maintained the performance that we have seen in the Audi in the second half of the year.

“After a tough start to the campaign, Ollie has driven really well this season and hopefully we can sit down and do a deal to continue our relationship into 2017. We’re also exploring the possibility of expanding to run a second Audi as we have the shell ready to build up, and have already spoken to some interested parties about what might be possible if we can secure the necessary licence.”