Croft: Team sunshine.co.uk preview

SUNSHINE.CO.UK TARGETS STRONG CROFT WEEKEND

Team sunshine.co.uk with Tech-Speed Motorsport is targeting a strong weekend at Croft this weekend as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season reaches the half-way point.

A difficult weekend last time out at Oulton Park means Widnes-racer Paul O'Neill heads to the North East in fourth place in the Independents' championship standings and seventh overall, with Paul looking to return to the kind of form that saw him claim podium finishes at both Thruxton and Rockingham.

With the Tech-Speed team having worked on the gearbox problems he suffered in Cheshire, Paul heads to Croft in buoyant mood as he seeks to give the team a strong result at a venue where he came close to taking victory in the final race last year.

"The areas of the track at Oulton Park where the car was strong is what Croft is all about, so I'm looking forward to being on the pace and fighting at the front," he said. "I've already forgotten about what happened at Oulton Park and my approach will be the same as it always is -- to do the best job I can for the team.

"After the recent bad luck we've had, I want to give them a result they deserve. They are one of the top three teams in this championship and deserve a top three result. With the things we have learnt with the car since this time last year, we should be as strong at Croft as we have been anywhere else."

Guernsey-based team-mate John George was unlucky not to score points at Oulton Park after he rebounded from a difficult qualifying session to show impressive pace on race day, before an engine issue forced him out in the closing stages of race two.

Like Paul, John heads to Croft confident of a strong weekend at the wheel of his Honda Integra.

"I'm really looking forward to Croft," he said, "and I'm hoping for big things after the pace I showed on race day at Oulton Park. The sunshine.co.uk cars were quick at Croft last season and after a strong showing last time out, I'm hopeful of scoring some points.

"In the second race at Oulton Park, I was setting top ten lap times and was quicker than the cars ahead, so I could have scored there before I had the issue with the car after getting caught up in an incident. Getting into the points has to be my aim this weekend and I'm targeting at least one top ten finish."

The Tech-Speed team has worked hard on getting the two Hondas ready for Croft after the issues encountered at Oulton Park and Tech-Speed boss Marvin Humphries said he felt the BTCC's only trip to the North East of England should be a good one for the sunshine.co.uk team.

"Croft is a good drivers circuit and one where the Honda should be strong," he said. "We've worked hard to get over the issues we had at Oulton Park and are looking to make a return to form. Paul did well at Croft in the wet last season and has shown what he can do this season while John was making good progress again at Oulton Park and will look to continue that."

Sunshine.co.uk MD Chris Brown agreed that the team should be strong at Croft and said he was hopeful of Paul and John picking up a result the team deserves after its recent bad luck.

"I think we'll have a good weekend," he said. "Croft is a fast circuit and one where the Honda should go well. We showed that last year when Paul led in the final race until there was an issue with the alternator in the wet conditions. The cars have had a lot of attention since Oulton Park and are in good shape, and it would be great if we could get back onto the podium at Croft.

"However, after the problems we had in the final race at Brands Hatch and then at Oulton Park, we aren't being complacent about the weekend ahead. Another podium finish would be fantastic but we really want to have a strong and trouble-free weekend to give the team a boost heading into the summer break."

-source: sunshine.co.uk