BTCC

Sunshine.co.uk Hunt Podium Finishes At Croft

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Paul O’Neill and the Sunshine.co.uk team are looking to put Oulton Park behind them this weekend as the British Touring Car Championship moves north to Croft.

The last round saw the team faced with gearbox problems for O’Neill and a difficult qualifying session for John George, but the team is looking to bounce back and regain the podium finishing form of Thruxton and Rockingham.

“The areas of the track at Oulton Park where the car was strong is what Croft is all about, so I'm looking forward to being on the pace and fighting at the front,” said O’Neill. “I've already forgotten about what happened at Oulton Park and my approach will be the same as it always is – to do the best job I can for the team.”

“After the recent bad luck we've had, they are one of the top three teams in this championship and deserve a top three result. With the things we have learnt with the car since this time last year, we should be as strong at Croft as we have been anywhere else.”

Team-mate John George is also confident of a strong showing this weekend. “I'm really looking forward to Croft,” he said, “and I'm hoping for big things after the pace I showed on race day at Oulton Park. The sunshine.co.uk cars were quick at Croft last season and after a strong showing last time out, I'm hopeful of scoring some points.”

“In the second race at Oulton Park, I was setting top ten lap times and was quicker than the cars ahead, so I could have scored there before I had the issue with the car after getting caught up in an incident. Getting into the points has to be my aim this weekend and I'm targeting at least one top ten finish.”

Since the last round at Oulton Park the Tech-speed team have been hard at work getting the two Hondas race-ready for the weekend, team boss Marvin Humphries feels that the hard work will be worth it this weekend.

“Croft is a good drivers circuit and one where the Honda should be strong,” he said. “We've worked hard to get over the issues we had at Oulton Park and are looking to make a return to form. Paul did well at Croft in the wet last season and has shown what he can do this season while John was making good progress again at Oulton Park and will look to continue that.”

Sunshine.co.uk MD Chris Brown agrees that it should be a strong weekend and is looking forward to seeing the team pick up some good results.

“I think we'll have a good weekend,” he said. “Croft is a fast circuit and one where the Honda should go well. We showed that last year when Paul led in the final race until there was an issue with the alternator in the wet conditions. The cars have had a lot of attention since Oulton Park and are in good shape, and it would be great if we could get back onto the podium at Croft.

“However, after the problems we had in the final race at Brands Hatch and then at Oulton Park, we aren't being complacent about the weekend ahead. Another podium finish would be fantastic but we really want to have a strong and trouble-free weekend to give the team a boost heading into the summer break.”

Photo credit: SJK Photography

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Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Checkered Flag who grew up visiting race circuits around the UK also a freelance motorsport PR officer. Outside of motorsport a lover of music, photography, NBA and NFL.
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