James Grint will be heading an Albatec Racing assault of the MSA British Rallycross Championship this year as he takes one of their Peugeot 208 Supercars on an eight-round journey in a bid for the title.
In 2015 Grint made his Supercar début at Pembrey in the British series before taking part in the five round FIA European Rallycross Championship alongside Jérôme Grosset-Janin.
“I’m really excited to be staying with Albatec in 2016” said Grint. “I’ve known the team for a while now and I’ve got two amazing mechanics, who I get on very well with, and I trust implicitly which I think is one of the most important things a driver needs to have in his team, complete confidence in his car and crew. My engineer is also incredibly clever, he’s engineered cars for some of the biggest names in motorsport and is constantly working to improve the setup and the car itself.
“And of course behind every successful team is a great team boss, and Andy is brilliant. He’s always on hand to talk strategy and all kinds of important racing stuff, but he will also pick up a spanner or a welding torch to help get the car on track if needed.
While the British championship is the main focus for Grint, he is looking to take part in some Euro RX rounds.
“My initial plan was to do the British and European championships. The British championship means a lot to both me and my sponsors so it was a deciding factor, and although I haven’t quite got the budget to do both right now, I’ll be working hard to top up the calendar with some Euro RX races.
A recent announcement from the British series means that the events will now be run in a similar fashion to the FIA World Rallycross Championship, this is something that Grint agrees with.
“It looks like it will be a very fair and professional championship this season, and bringing it into line with the format of World RX, plus having Tim Whittington as race director should make the events run perfectly. Although I’m still a relative newcomer to rallycross compared to the rest of the supercar drivers in Britain, I think with the Albatec car being as fast as it is I should be a championship contender for sure.”
Andy Scott, Team Principal Albatec Racing is happy to have Grint back in the team for the new season, “I’m delighted to welcome James back into the team for a second season” he said. “There’s no doubt that consistency is important for both team and driver, and I’m certain there’s a lot more to come from him. He proved last season that he could mix it with the front runners, gaining three semi-final places in Europe, as well as putting on a pretty impressive show in his very first event at Pembrey.
“His previous rally experience meant he was very quickly up to speed on the gravel aspect of rallycross tracks, and he’s done some driving this year which he feels will help him on the tarmac sections too, so car and driver look a good prospect for a potential title-winning combination.”
