Aiden Moffat and the Laser Tools Racing team have confirmed that they will run a Mercedes A-Class in the British Touring Car Championship in 2015, after completing a successful test yesterday.
Today’s [Friday October 24] announcement follows indications from Adam Morgan earlier in the week that his Ciceley Motorsport team were building a second A-Class for youngster Moffat – who competed with a Chevrolet Cruze during the 2014 season – after the two outfits collaborated during the second half of this year.
The co-operation saw Ciceley Motorsport assisting Moffat’s fledgling team with engineering and race-preparations from Snetterton onwards, and the tie-up led to the Scot taking two points finishes at the season-ending meeting at Brands Hatch, including a career-best 12th place in race two (which Morgan won in his A-Class).
The Laser Tools Racing team headed to Donington park yesterday to test their 2015 car, and having been impressed with it’s performance, Team Manager Bob Moffat was delighted with the announcement, which he hoped would continue the successful partnership of the two teams.
“The team’s performance changed instantly with the liaison with Ciceley Motorsport, resulting in a brace of points-scoring finishes on the final rounds at Brands Hatch,” said Moffat. ‘This has given us the confidence to continue with Ciceley and it makes perfect sense to run the Mercedes-Benz A-Class after the car’s terrific performance this season. [That was] Reinforced by today’s test session at Donington – Aiden loves the car and has already been displaying some impressive lap times.”
And for his son, driver Aiden, the test instantly showed the differences between his new machine and the one he competed with in 2014.
“I felt immediately at home in the car,” said the 18-year-old. “It’s accepted that the Cruze has a twitchy chassis and can be unpredictable on the limit – but the Mercedes is giving me more feedback from the chassis right from this very first drive. I can’t wait to really get to grips with the car and drive it in anger.”
Ciceley Motorsport were similarly pleased with the outing, and the strengthening of the relationship between the two teams ahead of the 2015 campaign.
“This is an exciting prospect for the future,” said Team Owner Russell Morgan. “The ability to share data can only move both teams forward in their quest for future championship success. The partnership will prove to be jointly beneficial for both teams and exciting times are ahead.”
TouringCars.Net can confirm that the two cars will run with their individual title sponsors in 2015, with both teams retaining their black, white and blue (Laser Tools Racing) and yellow and black (Ciceley Motorsport) paint schemes. Moffat’s car is expected to formally be unveiled no earlier than the Autosport International show in January.
In addition to that, it is not yet clear if the Ciceley team, who operate under the WIX Racing banner, still intend to field two Mercedes of their own next season, with Morgan stating their intentions after the final round of the season at Brands Hatch.