As a number of teams lick their wounds after the carnage of Brands Hatch, one outfit is preparing for life in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship after Robertshaw Racing confirmed it will make its BTCC debut at
Knockhill.
The team, which runs a number of cars in the Clio Cup, will campaign the Honda Integra which started the year in the hands of Simon Blanckley and Sibsport before Blanckley was forced to withdraw due to business commitments prior to the last round at
Brands Hatch.
"It's always been my goal to make it into the BTCC," team boss Gary Robertshaw said. "We want to be successful, but we're under no illusions and know it will take some time.
"We need to knuckle down in next few years, settle in and build. We plan to expand to two cars for 2008. If we can come through next year and operate as professionally as possible and learn from the process then we'll consider we've done a good job.
"At the moment, we're looking to that opening practice session on the Saturday morning when our car rolls out onto the track for its first official BTCC session – that will be the most exciting moment in our team's history."
Alan Taylor, one of the team's Clio racers, will drive the Integra at both Knockhill and
Thruxton as he makes his debut in the BTCC at the age of 50 – making him the oldest driver on the grid this season.
Taylor will receive help from former BTCC racer Warren Hughes who will join the team in an advisory role and he said he couldn't wait to get on track for his debut.
"I'm not intimidated at all – in fact, I'm looking forward to it immensely," he said. "The BTCC has always been a massive passion for me and it's been a dream of mine to get into the championship
"Warren will assist and be a great help as I've no team-mate to share data with. Simon, who we bought the car from, will also be trackside. The Integra is clearly a good car and I don't have any problems with starting off in the BTCC at Knockhill. I started off in Clios at Thruxton which is just as challenging!
