Redstone Racing praying for Snetterton salvation

Redstone Racing are hoping for divine intervention to help rejuvenate their challenge for the 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) title as they head to Norfolk’s Snetterton 300 circuit for round 6 this coming weekend (11/12 August).

After a blistering start to the 2012 season, the Kent-based team has been cursed with dire luck in the last few rounds which have dented their championship title hopes. However, after some serious rebuilding and further development work on the ‘Little Red Devil’ Mountune powered Ford Focus STs during the seven week break, Redstone Racing are ready to get back to the racing and focused on closing the points gap in the Independent Teams’ standings.

Redstone Racing Ford Focus STs, the "Little Red Devil"

Photo by: Pat Cranham

Redstone Racing driver Mat Jackson is looking for a repeat performance of last year’s debut opening of the new Snetterton 300 layout where he took a win in the final race of the day and secured two top six finishes. All other hopes of a solid points haul for the team rest on 'Motorsport Ireland's Young Driver of the Year' Aron Smith’s shoulders as team-mate Liam Griffin takes a short sabbatical from the Championship.

Redstone Racing driver Mat Jackson said:

“Overall we’ve had a good first half of the season, the car has been competitive and we’ve been up there challenging for the lead at each round. Unfortunately, our results have been marred by a mixture of mistakes on my part, impact from other drivers and engine issues so our position in the standings doesn’t really reflect on how competitive the car is.

“We’ve had some good testing during the break, as have the NGTC cars and things will have moved on for everyone since the last round but we still expect to be challenging for the lead as we have been. We had a good weekend’s racing here last year and the car has massively improved since then so hopefully we can look forward to a repeat performance!”

Redstone Racing driver Aron Smith said:

“With such a long gap since Croft, it feels like the start of the season once again! Although, to be fair, it has given me chance to have a bit of a break and refocus on what we need to achieve. Realistically I'd like to start the weekend off in the top ten and see where we can get to from there.

“I had one of my best races ever in the Clio Cup here last year and managed to get some pre-season testing in so hopefully that'll stand me in good stead for the weekend. I'm dying to get back out on track!”

Redstone Racing driver Liam Griffin said:

“Unfortunately due to unavoidable work and family commitments I’ll be taking a short sabbatical from the BTCC. All being well, I hope to be back on track before the end of the season. It’s a real shame I’m missing this weekend as I was looking forward to getting another shot of the new 300 layout, but hopefully I’ll be able to make it along at some point over the weekend to cheer the boys on from the pit lane.”

Redstone Racing Team Manager Oly Collins said:

“A very difficult Croft weekend seems an age away now. We've had our summer break from BTCC racing which has been extremely busy with further developments to the S2000 Focus to try to aid the tyre wear up against the larger tired NGTC cars. We've been out testing and are confident we have made some improvements, how much of an improvement we've made will probably be proven this weekend. We do expect a tough Snetterton as its much better suited to the larger tires & brakes on the NGTC cars but we'll still be going out for some solid results. We're still in a strong position in the Independents’ Championships and there’s still 15 races remaining so who knows!”

Event Information:

Round 6 of the BTCC featuring races 16, 17 and 18 take place at Snetterton on Sunday 12th August.

Snetterton 300 Circuit length: 2.99 miles
Laps: 12
Race distance: 35.88 miles
Snetterton Circuit, Thetford, Norfolk NR16 2JU

Source: Redstone Racing