Despite earlier revealing he hoped to field a brace of ex-works SEAT Leons in the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship, Motorbase Performance team chief David Bartrum has instead revealed that his team will switch to BMW for the new campaign.

The Kent-based squad, which campaigned the older SEAT Toledo last season, had hoped to get its hands on the cars raced by Jason Plato and Darren Turner during the 2007 season but will now run a pair of BMW 320sis – similar to those used by both Team RAC and Jackson MSports to great success during the past year.

Who will drive the cars remains to be seen, with no-one yet signed to the project but discussions ongoing with a number of drivers.

However, Bartrum said he was confident for the season ahead, with an intensive test programme in place for the winter and a strong working relationship having been set up with Schnitzer to aid in the ongoing development of the cars.

"We want to compete at the very front of the BTCC and to do that, we need the best cars that are available," Bartrum said. "The SEATs served us well last season, but the BTCC is hugely competitive and we need the latest equipment to be able to challenge for race wins.

"The best opportunity for us is to run BMWs."