Motorbase Performance confirm three car line-up

Motorbase Performance have confirmed that they will compete in this year’s British Touring Car Championship with their Ford Focus STs as last year, with Mat Jackson, Liam Griffin and Árón Smith driving for the team.

Jackson goes into his third consecutive year with the team, and will again be an outside contender for the title in what’s set to be the most stable package in the BTCC, with Motorbase keeping their S2000 specification Ford Focuses and with their Ford 2.0 litre turbocharged engine built to Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) regulations.

Meanwhile rivals Honda have made the switch to an all new NGTC-spec Honda Civic, Triple Eight likewise have made the jump to NGTC and a change of manufacturer to MG, and RML have withdrawn to focus on the WTCC.

“2012 looks to be an exciting year in the BTCC,” said Jackson. “With the New NGTC regulations being adopted by many of the front running teams, the season could prove to be very interesting indeed.”

“It’s fantastic to be back driving with Motorbase for the third year in a row. It feels like home now. We have the same core personnel in place for this season, which I believe is key to our challenge for the outright drivers’ title.”

Liam Griffin returns for his sophomore season in the BTCC in the team’s second Ford Focus ST. The team will also start with three cars on the grid for a full season campaign, with Árón Smith taking over the car which was run late last year for Michael Caine and James Thompson.

Smith drove with Triple Eight for one round last season, as well as competing in the Renault Clio Cup UK championship, finishing in joint second place. Smith secretly tested for the team last week in the Focus.

“Árón has settled straight in to the team and has impressed us all in testing,” said Team Principal David Bartrum.

“I’m sure he will be competitive very quickly this year. Liam has had a year in the BTCC under his belt now so knows what to expect this year so we’re looking forward to him hitting the ground running come round one. And with Mat, he will be starting in a car he knows well which has been further improved so there is no reason why we can’t mount a serious championship challenge as we did last year, but hope for some better luck in 2012.”

The team has also announced that it will not be participating in one of the BTCC’s support series, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this season, a series where the team has been a regular contender since 2004.

“I love the Carrera Cup, but we were looking for a new challenge for 2012,” said Bartrum. “This isn’t an ending, it’s a sabbatical. Give us a year or two and we’ll be back. Carrera Cup has been a big part of our team and Porsche will always be part of our future.”

“We’ve been really busy behind the scenes for the past few months and have a number of exciting plans in the pipeline for this year and that’s where our focus will be.”

“We’re not quite in the position to make any announcements at this moment in time, but we’re close, all will be revealed very soon.”