Jackson and Smith look forward to the new season with Motorbase

Motorbase Performance, or Redstone Racing as they run under, have confirmed that they will run a pair of New Generation spec Ford Focus’ for 2 of their 3 drivers from 2012, Mat Jackson and Dubliner Aron Smith in the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

After running Porsches for many years Motorbase first entered the series during the final race of 2006 in a Seat Toledo for Tom Ferrier at Silverstone. They then entered a pair of Seat’s for the full 2007 season for Matt Allison and Gareth Howell but, after a challenging first year, the team made a change to BMW’s for 2008.

By the end of the 2008 season, Motorbase were on the podium and even won the team award during the final meeting of the year at Brands Hatch. Rob Collard brought the team their maiden victory during the opening meeting of 2009 again at Brands Hatch.

They continued with BMW’s in 2010 but switched to S2000 Ford Focus’ having brought all 3 of the ex Arena Motorsport cars. Jackson joined the team in 2010 and, with the new Ford Focus, in 2011 was a major contender for the championship briefly leading the series before enduring a torrid run failing to score a point in 6 races and with it his championship bid had passed.

After running under the name of Airwaves Racing since 2009 the team were renamed and entered all 3 Ford Focus’ under the name of Redstone Racing for 2012. Jackson managed a couple of early wins but it was clear he couldn’t match the new NGTC machines on a regular basis and the team opted to build an NGTC Ford Focus, the first car the team had built from themselves to enter the second half of the season to give them a head start for the 2013 season. The car was instantly on the pace and Jackson managed the car’s maiden win at Silverstone driving from the back of the grid to take victory.

Following the team’s successful introduction of their NGTC Focus in 2012 team boss Dave Bartrum is hugely excited for the coming season and is delighted to have both Jackson and Smith on board and said, “We’re incredibly excited about this season. It’s great to be starting the season with two drivers that know the team so well; consistency is key at such an important time with our own car, and it means we can get straight to work. With Mat and Aron both back on board, I believe we have one of the strongest driver pairings on the grid. The NGTC exceeded everyone’s expectations last year, and with the work and developments we’ve made over the winter I’m confident that we will be serious title contenders in 2013. Roll on Brands Hatch!”

For the 2008 series runner up, Jackson, this marks his 4th consecutive year with the team. Like team boss Bartrum, Jackson is also looking to build upon the instant success of the car and said, “2012 was a season of two halves for us, with the latter part focussed on developing and testing the new NGTC with the view that 2013 would be a key year for the team and myself. The NGTC programme has been an exciting project to be involved with and what we achieved in 2012 was epic. In the space of 80 days we took the car from the drawing board to race wins; and this has given us a great platform to start from. We also knew how much more the NGTC could give and the Motorbase boys have worked incredibly hard over the winter to improve the car further, but I believe that together with the passion within the team, we have a car that can challenge for the main title in 2013.”

For Smith, who was the 2011 Clio Cup runner up, 2012 marked his debut full year in the BTCC following a one off appearance for Triple Eight racing at Knockhill in 2011. After a mixed first half of the season Smith really shone in the second half of 2012, still driving the teams S2000 spec Focus, and was rewarded for his fine second half of the season performance by scoring his maiden series win during the final meeting of the year at Brands.

Smith has already had his first taste of the NGTC Focus following the end of the season and can’t wait to build on his performances in 2012 and said, “I think this season will be a great one to be part of as all the major teams have converted to the NGTC regulations which can only mean one thing - some great racing! Before Christmas I got my first taster of the NGTC Focus and was blown away by it. Since then the team have been flat out developing it even further so I can't wait to start testing once again. To return to for a second season with Motorbase is what I always wanted, so fingers crossed I can give them the results that they deserve.”