Motorbase announce James Cole’s return

Motorbase Performance has announced the re-signing of James Cole to complete its driver line-up for the 2018 BTCC season.

Cole, who drove for the team for half a season back in 2015, returns after two seasons as part of the BMR-run Subaru squad to fill the seat vacated by Mat Jackson in the Team Shredded Wheat with Gallagher side of the Motorbase garage.

The 29-year-old had been linked to a number of different teams during the off-season, but said he was pleased to get the chance to return to David Bartrum’s outfit as he seeks to add to the race win he secured last year at Rockingham.

“It’s fantastic to be back as part of the Motorbase line-up this year,” he said. “I’ve never felt happier and more excited going into a new BTCC season. Thanks to David Bartrum for having the faith to welcome me back.

“I’m coming back into the team as a race winner now, and I have another two years’ of BTCC experience under my belt, which should put me in good stead to have a proper crack this year. It’s also great to be back working with James Mundy, my engineer from Formula Ford, it’s been ten years since we last worked together so it feels like a homecoming!”

Cole had his first chance to sample the new Focus RS during testing in Spain last week, where he took to the track alongside team-mates Tom Chilton and Sam Tordoff during the final day of running.

“It was like putting back on an old pair of gloves at the test last week,” he said. “I thought it might take a while to get to grips with FWD again but I managed to get up to speed very quickly.

“The new RS gives me a lot more confidence to push early on and considering I haven’t been in FWD for a couple of years, I managed to get on the pace within a day which shows how much the car has moved on from the old ST.”

Team boss Bartrum meanwhile said he was happy to bring Cole back into the fold; expressing confidence that he would prove to be a worthy addition to the line-up.

“It’s great to welcome James back into the team,” he said. “James was with us in 2015 for half a season, he came in during a very difficult year for us as we only got to run half a season so he has unfinished business with Motorbase.

“James has done a very good job in the Subaru in the time he’s been away. He’s been on pole and won a race and has clearly raised his game and coming back to FWD may well suit him.

“He has a big task coming into the team late but we’ve got an excellent infrastructure around him and he has a very strong team-mate in Tom Chilton so I know he’ll be able to equip himself well and get up to speed quickly. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in the car this year.”

Cole’s deal with Motorbase means just two seats remain vacant on the grid for the upcoming season, with the second AmDTuning.com MG6 and the third Subaru Levorg at Team BMR still to be filled.