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Mortlock Motorsports Brands Hatch preview

Mortlock aims to recapture Brands Hatch lap record Cambridge, UK -- 13 May, 2003 -- This weekend sees the return of the EuroBOSS Formula 1 cars to Brands Hatch in Kent -- and Cambridge driver Matthew Mortlock, racing his F1-Sales.com Footwork ...

Mortlock aims to recapture Brands Hatch lap record

Cambridge, UK -- 13 May, 2003 -- This weekend sees the return of the EuroBOSS Formula 1 cars to Brands Hatch in Kent -- and Cambridge driver Matthew Mortlock, racing his F1-Sales.com Footwork Arrows, will be out to reclaim his "Boss of Brands Hatch" crown following the US Champ Cars snatching his outright lap record a little over a week ago. At the UK round of the US CART Championship Adrian Fernandez managed a 38.21 in his Ford-Cosworth/Lola, beating Mortlock's time of 39.40 secs (112.03 mph) set at last year's EuroBOSS race meeting.

"I confident we can go faster this year," said Mortlock. "We lapped in 38.6 seconds in testing at Brands Hatch earlier this year and we've found more speed with the car since then. Following this weekend, I expect the lap record to be high 37's."

Last year, the first EuroBOSS race at Brands Hatch saw some of the closest racing of Formula 1 cars ever experienced, with Dutchman Klaas Zwart in his Ascari Benetton and Mortlock in his Footwork Arrows battling it out lap after lap around the 1.2-mile circuit. This year, reigning EuroBOSS Champion Earl Goddard in his ex-Michael Schumacher Benetton is expected to join Zwart and Mortlock fighting it out for race honours.

On racing at Brands Hatch, Mortlock comments, "My favourite corner is the first one, Paddock Hill Bend. We are doing 190mph towards Paddock Hill Bend before braking, and the camber means you have to really hold it in the corner. Because the track drops away, you have to commit to the turn-in before you can see where you are going and have blind faith that you are turning in where you should."

Mortlock and the other EuroBOSS competitors take centre stage at one of the biggest events in the UK motorsport calendar, the CSMA Classic Festival at Brands Hatch on 17 - 18 May. Advance ticket sales indicate that attendance is expected to exceed last year's 45,000 spectators. A grid of 19 EuroBOSS cars will entertain the gathered crowds, once again providing spectacular and noisy racing action.

Mortlock currently lies in third place in the EuroBOSS Championship table, behind Goddard and Zwart, following the first race of the EuroBOSS season at Silverstone.

About the Car

Michele Alboreto originally drove Mortlock's car for the Footwork Mugen Honda team in the 1992 FIA Formula 1 championship. That season, the car was fitted with a Mugen-Honda 3.5L V10 and Michele finished 10th in the Drivers Championship. Designed by Alan Jenkins, the car was highly reliable and failed to finish only at the Belgian and Australian Grand Prix. Michele Alboreto scored 6 World Championship points with this FA-13 chassis, finishing 5th in the Grand Prix of Spain and San Marino, and 6th in Brazil and Portugal.

About Matthew Mortlock

Matthew Mortlock is a successful businessman and racing driver, based in Cambridge UK. During his racing career, Matthew has raced and excelled in a wide variety of motorsport formulas. Matthew has raced in open-wheeled single seaters, sports cars, saloon cars, and even stock and banger racing. His achievements include race wins in every category that he has raced, and being crowned as 1999 BOSS Masters Champion. Matthew has raced in the BOSS (now EuroBOSS) series since 1996 and has extensive experience in racing Formula 1 cars.

Outside of motor racing, Matthew has achieved success in many high-energy fields of sport. For 15 years Matthew was a qualified parachute instructor, owning and running three highly successful parachute clubs. Matthew was a member of the British Parachute Team in 1982 and 1984, and was ranked 4th in the world in 1984. In 1985 Matthew extended his motorsports hobby into a successful race car dealership business. Now, under the F1-Sales.com banner, Matthew specialises in dealing with Formula 1, Formula F3000, and Sports Cars.

About F1-Sales.com Racing Team

Headed by driver and team owner, Matthew Mortlock, the F1-Sales.com Racing Team competes in the EuroBOSS series -- Europe's fastest motor racing series -- for pre-1998 Formula 1 cars. The team employs a full-time race preparation engineer and has a full complement of race team staff and pit crew on race days. The F1-Sales.com Racing Team is based in Cambridge, UK - a location within easy reach of many of the UK racing circuits such as Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Donington Park. The team has scored race wins and podium finishes in its EuroBOSS campaigns.

-mm-

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