Team BMR boss Warren Scott has declared him and his team to be “as confident as you can be” ahead of the new British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season at Brands Hatch this weekend.
Having signed reigning champion Colin Turkington and runner-up Jason Plato during the winter, expectations are high amongst almost everyone in the BTCC paddock. Having assembled a strong driver line-up, Scott has also poached top engineers Carl Faux and Kevin Berry from Triple Eight and WSR respectively over the winter.
“We’re as confident as you can be in this championship,” admitted Scott to TouringCars.Net. “We’ve put the right people together – the right engineers and the right drivers. We hope we’ve put the right team together but there’s other teams in the paddock who are just as prepared as we are.
“We’re expecting a fight – we’re obviously aiming to win it, like everyone else is. We’re going for the championship – there’s no two ways about it. But there’s five or six other teams who are saying the same thing. They’ve got just as good drivers and just as good people behind them – that’s what makes the championship so exciting.”
Having signed both of the top two drivers in the championship from last season, Scott remained modest when quizzed as to how he pulled off such a rare feat in the BTCC.
“I just talked to them [Turkington and Plato] earlier in the season,” said Scott. “They’ve obviously had other options, we’ve had some other options and we just kept talking. Finally it just came off. I like to think it was the class of the people I’ve got behind the team – the engineers, the managers and the mechanics.”
All of the team’s Volkswagen CC’s have been rebuilt during the winter months and, whilst they feature no changes to the engine, modifications have been made to the bodywork of the cars and strengthening of certain key components.
For Scott himself, who finished 21st in last year’s championship, the coming season presents an opportunity to prove himself as a driver in his third season of touring car racing.
“It’s certainly improved my position. We’ve had a better winter test giving us more time, the four of us, to sit down and talk with the engineers, so my understanding of where we’re going is improving. It’s given the drivers a chance to say ‘look here Warren, this is where you’re going wrong’ and point out a few corners for me, which is helping me a lot.
“I want to improve from last year. I’m realistic – I’ve not got huge amounts of experience, but I’ve got good drivers behind me to help me get experience. The whole field is quality and if I’m in there racing then I’m enjoying it.
“I’ll be trying my heart out, there’s no doubt about it, and I will just keep trying. Regular top ten visits will be my goal this year. With the quality of the grid it’s very difficult to know where you’ll be, but if it’s nearer the sharper end I’ll be pleased.”