AmDTuning.com show potential in challenging BTCC opener

Cobra Sport will again be a main sponsor of the AmDTuning.com BTCC team and we will be following the team throughout the upcoming season, experiencing the highs and lows of running in the BTCC for a second year.

The Cobra Sport sponsored AmDTuning.com BTCC team showed a glimpse of its potential on what proved to be a challenging start to the 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend.

The team went into the season opener hoping to challenge for points finishes, with driver Ollie Jackson making his first appearance at the wheel of the team's striking Audi S3.

Showing strong pace throughout Saturday's testing and qualifying runs, Tamworth-based Ollie managed to record time quick enough for an encouraging 20th place on grid, with his fastest lap being just four tenths of a second away from the top ten. In the first race Ollie made a strong start from 20th on the grid and battled his way up to as high as 14th before his race was cut short by a stub axle failure through Clearways whilst running inside the points which forced to head for the pits.

The retirement meant a tough race two grid position down in 29th place from which Ollie managed to make his way up through the field to complete the race in a solid 23rd place even with an issue with one of his soft compound Dunlop tyres which prevented him from climbing any higher up the pack.

Race three also proved to be a difficult race having found himself stuck in traffic for the duration of the final race of the weekend, Ollie crossed the line in 22nd, but remained upbeat about the potential of the Audi.

"Bad luck seemed to follow us today, which was unfortunate as I think we showed glimpses of the potential that we have in the car" he said. “We were putting in a really competitive performance in the opening race of the day and there is no doubt that we were on to start the season with some points before the problem with the car. It was just unfortunate that as I went to enter the pits, someone else tried to make a move up the inside. Although points would have been nice, there is plenty we can take away from the weekend."

For team boss Shaun Hollamby, the season opener proved to be a case of 'what might have been', although he too insisted there were plenty of positives to take away from the first round of the year. 

“Race one was looking really good and Ollie was doing a great job on track before damage from the earlier contact caused a front suspension failure," he said. “Had we managed to end that race where we should have done, then it would have been a totally different story as the car had the pace, we just weren't able to show it in the second and third races." We now turn our attention to the next round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park in 2 weeks time.

Images © Cobra Sport & Jakob Ebrey Photography