J'AIME January 2018

car; I expected it to be a more significant challenge.
Essentially the fundamentals of racing and driving
fast are the same which left me fewer nuances to
master.
It is important to me to give big thanks to Martin
Broadhurst and the team at Power Maxed Racing
for helping me adapt; after my first session I felt at
home in the PMR Vauxhall Astra. They are a highly
professional bunch, and Martin has been around
for many years in the British Rally Championship,
and British Touring Car Championship has worked
with some of the motoring industry’s most significant
names.
The main difference in the two cars and how they
handle is the amount of rotation needed into the
corner; I had to rotate the touring car more and
square the corner off, and then be more patient on
the power to prevent understeer. This means heading
deeper into the corner and using the transferal of
weight to bring the back round, in a controlled
method of oversteer. My rear wheel drive GT car
needs the straightest line as possible to allow me to
get the power down and push the car through the
bend.
What I really noticed is how the British Touring
Car can take kerbs, it’s like they don’t exist. I had
a fantastic time hitting the kerbs at speeds you just
couldn’t achieve in a GT car, not without breaking
the suspension and sending yourself into the wall. It
was quite liberating to point the car at the kerb and
wait for the kerb to launch the car dramatically in
the air, really spectacular stuff and why the crowds
love British Touring Cars soo much.
It is important that I keep developing as a driver and
whenever you are given a chance to try something
new, you have to seize the opportunity
with both hands, and that is what my
British Touring Car test was about.
Plus, now I am back in the UK, and as
the Touring Cars represent the largest
national championship in the UK,
naturally I had many offers last year to
race in the championship.
As much fun as British Touring Cars
is, my heart and commitment are with
the British GT Championship, and
UltraTek Racing, my long-term contract
with am driver Richard Taffinder is
very important to me and the two
championships clash on two race dates
which means competing in both is
impossible.
I am committed to the work we are doing
with Richard; he is making significant progress as
he continues his winter testing programme as we
progress our route to Le Mans. We have been out in
the gokart during the horrible winter months which
is teaching Richard lots of detail about handling
a car in the wet and developing his real racing
techniques.
I can’t say too much about the plans for 2018 just
yet as we are due to make announcements in early
2018. However, I am prepared to say that we made
fantastic progress with our technical partners RJN.
It is clear to see why they are the factory choice for
Nissan in the UK. They engineered the Nissan 370Z
GT4 cars beautifully and we are proud to call them
our team of choice for 2018. Watch this space as we
are set to formally unveil our team plans before the
Autosport Show in 2018.
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