Welch Automotive to expand to two cars for 2012

New independent BTCC team Welch Automotive picked up their first point in their half-season of the Championship in race two at Silverstone, and driver Daniel Welch is looking ahead to next season when the team plans to enter two NGTC-specification Protons.

A tenth place finish in race two saw Welch pick up one point in the Championship, despite a hard knock from Rob Collard on lap 13 of the race, which had followed on from a hit earlier which had dropped the Proton driver out of seventh on the first lap.

“It’s nice to finally get it. We expected to get I think a bit earlier, but it was a hard fought one, put it that way,” said Welch to TouringCarTimes.

“(Collard) came back and apologised straight away…earlier on in the race I’d been hit by one of the Aon cars and then just got swamped down the back straight by three cars. Our biggest area where we’re lacking at the minute is the straight line speed. The corners we’ve been working really hard, developing the new type of suspension and we’re making good progress, but we’re just hitting our head against a brick wall down the straights, we’re sort of like a sitting duck.”

The Welch Automotive Proton was the fourth car to participate in the season, entering just after the mid-season break at Snetterton, and is fully built to NGTC regulations. It’s also only the second of the NGTC cars to also be competing with ‘the TOCA engine’, built by Swindon Engines, with Dynojet Racing and Rob Austin Racing electing to go with their own development programmes.

“The Swindon guys, they’re good company and they’ve produced a good engine and the service is good, but compared to Wrathall we’re nearly 8km/h slower down the straight which in real terms is four or five car lengths, and when you’re racing against people it’s hard,” said Welch.

After a half season in the BTCC, the former SEAT Cupra Cup UK and SEAT Eurocup driver is looking ahead to his first full season in the BTCC next year, with Welch also stepping up to be a two car team.

“The second one’s already being built….a lot of the fundamentals of the car will change for next year…so nothing will happen with that car for a couple of months and then come to Christmas time we’ll start to develop the two together to the latest regulations,” said Welch.”

“We’re quite confident that we think we’ve caught up the progress of Wrathall and Austin with regards to the suspension, following Frank earlier we had the legs on him in the corner and I’m happy with that.”

“We’re in next year with the sole intent to turn up and be one of the front running teams. We’re not here to come 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, we’re here to be running firmly in the top half dozen. It’s always going to be difficult for us as a small independent team to fight against the big teams, they’re always going to be one step ahead, but the concept of this is it gives us an opportunity.”