Ollie Jackson and the AmDTuning.com team are aiming to start the second half of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season in style when the series circus rolls into Snetterton this weekend.
So far this season, the West Thurrock-based team has scored points on ten occasions, and the sixth meeting of the campaign will also be the home race for Attleborough-based Jackson, currently 18th in the championship standings.
After a strong season-opener at Brands Hatch the turbo-powered VW Golf has slipped down the pecking order, yet to break the top ten since – something Jackson is keen to rectify.
“Snetterton is my home track, so I'm really looking forward to the weekend,” he said. “Over the summer break I've been training hard to keep myself in shape and have also lost a bit of weight which will help when I'm in the car.
“We had a good start to the season at Brands Hatch but I think we struggled a little bit towards the summer break as others found more with their cars.
“However, we've been working to improve the Golf over the summer and hopefully the changes we have made will lead to an improvement on track. I'm also now more confident behind the wheel of the car and I want to pick up more top ten results over the second half of the year.
“We know the NGTC cars are going to be strong at Snetterton and will be strong for the rest of the year but I think we have taken a noticeable step forwards and I want to be scoring points in all three races and pushing towards the top ten.”
It is important you never stand still in touring cars and team boss Shaun Hollamby says the team as worked hard to improve both the power and handling of the Golf.
“Over the summer we looked at the engine installation and have made some changes there in order to make the most of the boost we are allowed to run this season,” he said. “We've also made some changes to the suspension geometry and the damping which we have tested at a brief shakedown and which did what we expected.
“We've shown glimpses of potential so far this season without everything coming together at the same time and that is what we want to happen from Snetterton onwards. The aim is to get the maximum out of the car over the second half of the year and hopefully we'll be able to push towards the top ten and pick up more points.
“It's a big weekend being Ollie's home race and he will have an onboard camera from ITV, which is going to be a first for us as a team. We're looking forward to a strong start to the second half of 2012.”
