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After their successes at the final meeting of the 2001 British Touring Car Championship, everyone at MG Sport and Racing is working hard to prepare for the forthcoming season. Drivers Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes have been testing with the West Surrey Racing squad in Spain, honing the race-winning EX259 Touring Car for the 2002 campaign. Anthony was confident that the team are headed for success this year on his return from Spain:
“We've been testing EX259 in Spain, at Albacete, which is a good circuit for Touring Cars. Plus, the weather is pretty much guaranteed to be dry there this time of year, which means you can get on and do what you travelled all that way to achieve.
“We spent four days at Albacete, then moved to a proving ground near Barcelona to do some straight line testing for the aerodynamics. The championship regulations control the splitter and try to make the amount of downforce the wings generate the same for everybody, which give you a very limited scope of adjustment for the aerodynamics, and we wanted to refine our package and see what small improvements we could make.
“Albacete was all about defining the components of the car – and it was great to get our first test out of the way, as there is a testing embargo that starts in March, and that makes time tight. We have to cram a lot of things in before then!
“The whole test was very positive. We've already made significant improvements from last year, working with new suspension components on last year's car.
“I really do think we are going to be a strong force in the BTCC this year – maybe even challenging for the championship. We're certainly going to win races, despite being up against more manufacturers than in 2001.
“Clearly Vauxhall will be very strong, and there will be six Astras out there, but traditionally Honda have always been very competitive in the series. The challenge from Proton will be interesting, I think they'll get stronger later in the season, but David Leslie is a proven runner and always quick.
“It should be a good season for the BTCC, as we're really in a new era of Touring Car racing in the UK. The new rules package has proved effective – and MG showed that a new manufacturer can come into the series and be competitive. Plus, a manufacturer doesn't have to spend the same sort of money as in they did under the Super Touring Car rules.
“The new TV coverage will be another exciting element. We're guaranteed a prime time slot on ITV, which means the manufacturers in the series can gain the exposure they need. The races will be shown on Saturday afternoons, straight after the Grand Prix qualifying some weekends.
“So far we've worked on last year's car, but for the next test we'll be using an interim car before we have the new 2002 car ready to use. I'm looking forward to that as Warren Hughes and I have been able to give out thoughts and ideas, and that car should feature some of our feedback to the designers. Warren and I like the same sort of characteristics in a car – so it will be interesting to drive it for the first time.
“Of course we won't really know how competitive we are until the first race, but I'm pretty confident that we'll be on the pace – if not setting it. Time is tight, but I've got every confidence in West Surrey Racing and our time in Spain has left us all very encouraged for the season ahead.”
After their successes at the final meeting of the 2001 British Touring Car Championship, everyone at MG Sport and Racing is working hard to prepare for the forthcoming season. Drivers Anthony Reid and Warren Hughes have been testing with the West Surrey Racing squad in Spain, honing the race-winning EX259 Touring Car for the 2002 campaign. Anthony was confident that the team are headed for success this year on his return from Spain:
“We've been testing EX259 in Spain, at Albacete, which is a good circuit for Touring Cars. Plus, the weather is pretty much guaranteed to be dry there this time of year, which means you can get on and do what you travelled all that way to achieve.
“We spent four days at Albacete, then moved to a proving ground near Barcelona to do some straight line testing for the aerodynamics. The championship regulations control the splitter and try to make the amount of downforce the wings generate the same for everybody, which give you a very limited scope of adjustment for the aerodynamics, and we wanted to refine our package and see what small improvements we could make.
“Albacete was all about defining the components of the car – and it was great to get our first test out of the way, as there is a testing embargo that starts in March, and that makes time tight. We have to cram a lot of things in before then!
“The whole test was very positive. We've already made significant improvements from last year, working with new suspension components on last year's car.
“I really do think we are going to be a strong force in the BTCC this year – maybe even challenging for the championship. We're certainly going to win races, despite being up against more manufacturers than in 2001.
“Clearly Vauxhall will be very strong, and there will be six Astras out there, but traditionally Honda have always been very competitive in the series. The challenge from Proton will be interesting, I think they'll get stronger later in the season, but David Leslie is a proven runner and always quick.
“It should be a good season for the BTCC, as we're really in a new era of Touring Car racing in the UK. The new rules package has proved effective – and MG showed that a new manufacturer can come into the series and be competitive. Plus, a manufacturer doesn't have to spend the same sort of money as in they did under the Super Touring Car rules.
“The new TV coverage will be another exciting element. We're guaranteed a prime time slot on ITV, which means the manufacturers in the series can gain the exposure they need. The races will be shown on Saturday afternoons, straight after the Grand Prix qualifying some weekends.
“So far we've worked on last year's car, but for the next test we'll be using an interim car before we have the new 2002 car ready to use. I'm looking forward to that as Warren Hughes and I have been able to give out thoughts and ideas, and that car should feature some of our feedback to the designers. Warren and I like the same sort of characteristics in a car – so it will be interesting to drive it for the first time.
“Of course we won't really know how competitive we are until the first race, but I'm pretty confident that we'll be on the pace – if not setting it. Time is tight, but I've got every confidence in West Surrey Racing and our time in Spain has left us all very encouraged for the season ahead.”
