With a strong start to the 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, AmD with Cobra Exhausts may be forgiven for thinking that the next couple of race weekends would have brought more success. Sadly, this wasn’t the case.
However, with confidence in the race trim of the Audi S3, a strong qualifying performance by their drivers Ollie Jackson and Sam Smelt at Oulton Park this weekend could be the tonic needed to reinvigorate their season.
Team Principal Shaun Hollamby takes solace from the performance of the Audi last year in Cheshire, “It’s a circuit where the car showed strong pace last year and where we picked up some points, and I see no reason why we can’t do it again this time around.”
Jackson who suffered a puncture whilst heading for points at Thruxton will want to put that disappointment behind him, plus with a car continually improving the opportunity to actually score some points may not be too far away with the right amount of luck.
Looking ahead, Ollie commented, “We have to try and focus on qualifying and there are some tweaks planned to the car, so it will interested to see where we end up.
“I’d say this is the first time I’ve ever gone to Oulton Park knowing I have a good car underneath me and on a circuit that I enjoy, I’m keen to fight for points.”
Meanwhile Sam Smelt will be looking to close the gap even further to the pack and aim for more solid finishes where he stays out of trouble. With previous experience at Oulton Park in the VW Racing Cup, this could be a strong weekend for the rookie.
“So far, I think my race pace has been better than my qualifying pace and I want to try and improve my Saturday performance to get in the mix on race day.” Said Sam ahead of another weekend of learning.
“I think it would be good if I could push into the top 20 in the races for the first time this weekend.”
