Geoff Steel Racing has revealed that it will return to the British Touring Car Championship for the 2011 season, racing a pair of BMW 320si cars.
The team, which last competed in the series in 2007, has purchased the cars from Motorbase Performance, who have run them in recent years prior to its switch to Fords for the coming season.
Team boss Geoff Steel has joined forces with former BTCC racer Martyn Bell, who raced a BMW for the team during his first two seasons in the championship. Steel will be in charge of the engineering side of the team, while Bell will act as team manager, responsible for commercial and sponsorship matters. The pair both have considerable experience of running BMWs.
The team is currently evaluating whether or not to switch to using the turbocharged NGTC engine designed for the new BTCC regulations, rather than the Super 2000 unit that is currently installed in the BMWs.
The team is in discussion with a number of experienced drivers to race the two cars, with decision expected regarding the driver lineup in the next few weeks.
“This is an exciting new programme that we have been working on for some time and we are pleased to be in a position where we can now go public with our plans,” said Bell. “We are in discussions with a number of interested drivers who have been successful in the BTCC in the past and feel we can offer a competitive package for the year ahead.
“The BMW is a proven car and with the plans we have in place, we're confident of challenging for regular top ten finishes and Independent honours in 2011,” he added.
