Maximum Motorsport will step up to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in 2016 with Stewart Lines as driver after purchasing AMD Tuning’s Ford Focus and TOCA BTCC License (TBL).
Lines will be entering his second season in the championship, having made his debut this year campaigning a Toyota Avensis with Houseman Racing. The 42 year old secured a best finish of sixteenth overall en-route to third in the Jack Sears Trophy.
“It was the right time for Maximum Motorsport to be in charge of its own destiny. I run other businesses and this new enterprise is a great new opportunity to be active in something we love doing,” said Lines, who owns the Midlands-based team.
“We will try our hardest to be the most competitive we possibly can be for 2016. This is the hardest race series in the UK. It’s a challenge, but a very exciting one.”
Maximum have purchased the Focus that Mike Bushell took to eight top fifteen finishes this season, leaving AMD with one license and the Audi S3 that Nic Hamilton raced in four meetings across the year.
The team plan to keep the car in its current form for pre-season testing as they adapt to it, but have confirmed intentions to upgrade to the new RML components and possibly the new Mountune EcoBoost engine in the future.
“Stewart and I would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Shaun Hollamby at AmD Tuning for providing this opportunity,” commented team co-owner John Hall.
“We are fully aware, ready and excited to be part of the fantastic series that is the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. The work has already begun and we will post updates as we progress.”
The team, which has title sponsorship from MaximumGroup.net, are no strangers to the BTCC weekends having competed in the Renault UK Clio Cup this season, challenging for the outright title with Ant Whorton-Eales.
Whorton-Eales revealed to TCF last month that the team are planning to expand to a multi-car Clio Cup entry next year.
