Team Halfords confident for 2008

Double HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship title-winners Team Halfords have their sights firmly set on the 2008 crown heading into the opening rounds of the 2008 season at Brands Hatch this weekend (29/30 March).
After an amazing debut year for the brand new Team Dynamics designed-and-built Honda Civic, Team Halfords is back and means business, with a new look driver line-up chasing the championship crown in the BTCC’s 50th anniversary season.

The 2007 season saw five wins and 15 podium finishes as the team worked feverishly with the new Civics’ development during the season. Now with an additional five months of winter testing the distinctive orange Team Halfords cars are ready to challenge for the title again, with the Honda having been on the pace during pre-season testing at both Rockingham and Brands Hatch.

No stone has been left unturned in the off-season, with every area of the Civic having been re-analysed and studied by Team Halfords engineers, who have worked closely with MIRA to make the ultimate S2000 BTCC car.

Significant focus has been given to improve the Honda’s aerodynamic efficiency and robustness, with the team optimistic of further success in what is set to be one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory.

“The targets for 2008 are to simply be faster and tougher,” team manager Oly Collins said. “We believe it will be a hard season where reliability and consistency will be as important as outright pace.

“Fortunately we are starting with a very good, fast base product. The Honda Civic was outstanding towards the middle and latter part of the last year, so it has been a case of fine-tuning as opposed to completely re-designing the car.”

For 2008, former champion Matt Neal is replaced by young gun Tom Chilton, who will be going into his seventh season of BTCC competition despite being only 23-years-old.

An experienced head on young shoulders, Chilton has shown excellent pace pre-season in the Civic and is eager to prove himself as a title contender in 2008.

“That orange colour makes the car look fast without it even turning a wheel!” he said. “My testing has gone very well and the team has given me lots of laps to get acclimatised to the car. I love it and love being back in a Honda.

“I’ve worked very closely with the team to achieve the goal we all want, more speed. The engineers have blown me away with their vast knowledge and people skills. People make companies and we have all the right people in what is a very closely knit team! Put that together with the Honda and we have a very reliable package; and that’s what wins championships.”

Scottish driver Gordon Shedden will be going into his third season with the team and has spent the majority of the winter testing new parts and trying to wring the best times out of the car.

“After last year where we came to the first race with literally zero testing, it is absolutely fantastic to be able to try so many different scenarios on all areas of the car,” he said. “We will certainly be coming into this season in a much stronger position. If you look at our statistics last year we didn’t finish in 15 races and still came third and fourth in the championship, that’s pretty impressive for a brand new car!

“I can’t wait to get out there now and start fighting for podium positions and, most importantly, the driver and teams championships.”

The team continues its long standing relationship with a number of sponsors in 2008 and specifically with its title sponsor Halfords, now in its fifth year with the team.

“We are delighted to be back in the thick of the action again,” Halfords head of PR Barbara Cadd said, “and with two really strong drivers in Flash and Sonic we are hoping to see our name at the top of the leader boards come the end of the season!”