Shaun Hollamby and the AMD Milltek Racing.com team knew it wasn’t going to be an easy year when the made the decision to join the BTCC circus. It’s been one hell of a ride so far as they develop the VW Golf, TCF caught up with Hollamby in the lead up to the next race weekend.
Croft marks the halfway point of the season and we asked Hollamby about his thoughts on the season so far: “AmD Milltek Racing.com are the only Independent team building our own car we are facing an uphill struggle.” says the 44-year-old.
It’s not all bad though, from the start of the season the team have made great progress, “Since the start of the year we have improved hugely and are starting to challenge the more established outfits.”
For Croft Hollamby will be pushing his driving to the limit as he admits “Croft is a very technical circuit which requires a driver to be patient and aggressive – sometimes in the same corner. Traction and ability to ride the kerbs is key.”
Asked about his aims for the the weekend and it’s a clear goal that they have been aiming for since the first race at Thruxton – “3 race finishes has been the target since the start of the year. I haven’t achieved this yet but reliability is the way to championship points.”
Following Croft the teams and drivers have a long wait until the next race of the season at Snetterton on 8 August, any thoughts of a break are out of the window though with the team working hard on development.
“After Croft we will be deciding on whether to advance development on this years engine- which is 40bhp down, or start moving forward with 2011 plans for 2.0 Turbo engine power.”
“As a small team we can only do one option not both. We have a number of meetings with potential sponsors and suppliers which will give us a good idea whether we achieve our maximum in 2010 or bide our time and work towards 2011.”
Hollamby reveals it’s a tough decision to make as it’s one that he has mixed views on, “As the driver I want as much power right now but as the team boss I want to make sure 2011 is not compromised!”
As a closing question we asked how he would describe the BTCC series to someone who hadn’t experienced and tin-top racing before, Hollamby’s answer? – “Crash, Bang, Wallop!”
Photo credit: Vince Pettit Photography