British Touring Car Championship outfit Motorbase insists that victories are on its radar ahead of this weekend’s visit to Silverstone.
Stalwart Mat Jackson took Motorbase’s first pole in the championship at Rockingham three weeks ago, and converted that into a dominant race one victory in his Ford Focus.
But far from resting on its laurels after that result, Team Principal David Bartrum urged his squad to push on at Silverstone – a circuit that has traditionally suited the team.
“Silverstone is a big weekend for us,” he said. “We had the comeback weekend at Snetterton before going to Knockhill where we started to see the glimmers of what could be with a couple of podiums and independent wins and then obviously we had a great weekend at Rockingham which underlined all of our hard work with an outright win.
“The next two rounds are very important; it’s all about proving that we now have the package to challenge for the championship next season.
“With the car performing as well as it has been and with Mat on form coming into one of our favourite circuits, I’d like to think that good things can come out of this weekend.
“James [Cole] also has a lot of experience on this circuit and he’s starting to understand the car a lot better, he’s worked hard and so I think this weekend will be his best chance of proving his talent.”
Jackson echoed his Team Principal’s sentiments, and was adamant that a second victory in as many race weekends was within his reach.
“Silverstone has always been very kind to us in the past and with the car performing so well this year I feel sure that we’ll be able to repeat our past successes,” he said.
“The Focus is well-suited to the circuit and the chassis has always worked well there so with changes we’ve made this year I fully expect us to be challenging for pole and race wins again this weekend.
Rockingham was a mega result for us and now we’ve had a taste of glory we’re ready for more.”
Team-mate James Cole, who equaled his career-best finish at Rockingham, insisted that a strong showing in qualifying would be key to achieving his ambitions.
“Silverstone is one of my favourite tracks, it’s one of those circuits that on paper looks simple but it’s a tough place to put a perfect lap together on so I’m expecting qualifying to be even closer than it was at Rockingham.
“My main focus heading into this weekend is qualifying. We’ve had great race pace but unfortunately I keep getting caught up in other people’s battles in the mid-pack. Having that space will hopefully give me the chance to show mine and the car’s true capabilities.”