Alex Martin: “RML parts will close the field up”

Alex Martin says he believes the new-for-2016 RML kit will close the British Touring Car Championship grid up yet further, after declaring himself delighted with his Ford Focus ST which is now “better in every way.”

The Team Parker Racing driver is entering his second season in the championship with the former Motorbase Performance-run Focus, which has also been fitted with the new Mountune-fettled EcoBoost engine which proved such a potent weapon at the end of 2015.

The former Porsche Carrera Cup racer feels the advantage the “NGTC specialists” have built up over the last five years will be narrowed by the new parts, which are replacing the old spec components provided by GPRM.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes at last week’s Thruxton test, Martin said: “It’s a much more conventional car. I think it will close the gap between the NGTC specialists and other good drivers.

“Especially with restricted winter testing, you can’t build up your experience without doing more races, and the people with the experience are also doing those races. So you never catch them up.

“The car just feels planted. I’ve got loads more front grip, loads more rear grip and you can get the power on earlier. I can’t really pinpoint one thing, it’s just better in every way.

“We’ve got the EcoBoost engine too, but I’ve not yet had it at full output. We’re really working on the chassis. The teams running the NGTC first generation parts have years of experience, but we have four days.”

Looking at his targets for the new season, the 28-year-old is looking to improve on his performances from his maiden year.

“What I said at the end of last season was that I need to score consistent points. Obviously everyone wants to win, don’t they? But judged on my performance last year, I need to be scoring consistently and edging into the top 10 and looking to move on from there,” said Martin.

There will be a much lighter driver behind the wheel this year, with a hard winter in the gym helping Martin lose the weight he put on when he was laid low by a back problem last winter.

“It was a downhill spiral last year because my back started playing up right before the season. I went in to see a specialist who told me I needed an operation, and in the meantime I stopped exercising which meant I put on loads of weight,” he said.

“I’m two-and-a-half stone lighter now than when I started last year, and I hope to get another stone off before the start of the season.

“I’m in the gym every day because my back is so much better. It was disheartening last year because I’ve always prided myself on my physical fitness and I couldn’t do anything about it because I was in agony.”