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Leason & Jones’ debut hopes

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Nick Leason and Mark Jones have both set themselves performance targets for their Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship debuts at Brands Hatch on 24 September.

Leason, from Northampton, will enter under the NJL Racing with Daniels Motorsport banner, driving a Vauxhall Astra Coupe with sponsorship from Ensafe, Aspect and Maddison Group (see artist’s impression above). Jones, from Manchester, will be in a Lexus IS200 run by the Team Forward Racing outfit.

“You must be realistic in the BTCC. We have a good reliable car, although won’t be in the same league as the bigger independent teams yet. But I’d still hope to give them a good run for there money with a bit of luck on our side,” said 38-year-old Leason whose varied racing career has included a spell in the BTCC’s supporting SEAT Cupra series.

He added: “It’s going to be tough and we have a great deal of hard work ahead of us, but it’s still just a great feeling to be racing in a championship like the BTCC, one of the best touring car championships in the World. I’m looking forward to racing in the last few meetings this year ahead of a full season in 2007.”

Former Autograss champion and Pick-up front-runner Jones, meanwhile, has his targets fixed on the unrelated Adam Jones’s Xero Competition Lexus that has impressively developed into a challenger for points finishes in its first season.

Newcomer Jones, aged 26, said: “I used to watch the BTCC a lot at my local circuit Oulton Park and became hooked. It has a great mix of manufacturer and independent teams and the racing is so exciting for the fans. It became my ambition to race in the championship and now that dream is about to come true.

”I have a clear aim and that is to stay as close as possible to the Xero car and make improvements every time out.”