Motorbase signs Chilton and Jackson for 2019 BTCC

Motorbase Performance has announced Tom Chilton and Ollie Jackson as its first two drivers to contest the 2019 British Touring Car Championship.

Former BTCC Independents Trophy winner Chilton finished third in the 2018 standings on his return to the series after five years out, claiming one victory in the Shredded Wheat Racing backed Ford.

He returns to the team alongside new signing Jackson, who joins after finishing 23rd in the drivers’ championship with the AmD Essex squad last season.

“I’ve just ended my first season with Motorbase coming third overall and second in the Independents so I like the idea that we can develop and work even closer this year,” said Chilton.

"I absolutely love the guys at Motorbase, they are such hard workers and I really genuinely believe that we can go on to take the title from where we started in our first year together.

“I think that people forget what it’s like coming into a team for the first year. You have to learn not just every single thing about the car from scratch with all the little key changes, but also everyone in the team, and it’s such a big learning curve in that first season.

“I’m very excited to have some consistency going into 2019 and I believe that we can go in for the title fight, especially with the developments we’ve made to the RS.”

Jackson returns to the Motorbase team he contested the Porsche Carrera Cup with in 2009 and 2010, clinching the Pro-Am 1 title during that spell.

“I had a lot of success with David and the team back in 2009 and 2010,” Jackson said.

“I won the Carrera Cup Pro-Am Championship with them, and have a lot of happy memories from my time with Motorbase so I’m really excited about being back with them again this season.

“Having had the relationship with David [Bartrum], I was lucky enough to test the Focus at the end of last season, and being in a more competitive car proved that I was ready to make the step-up into a race winning team with a proven track record of success.

“It was a little bit of good fortune that got me that first podium last year, but I think with the extra that everyone puts in at Motorbase, including myself, we should be pushing for more regular podiums this year and hopefully even chasing down that maiden race win.”

Motorbase team principal David Bartrum added: “I’m delighted with our line-up this year.

“As a team, we made some good steps forward last year, and Tom showed us his character and work ethic which make him the racer he is. He’s very much a ‘Motorbase’ driver and I’m looking forward to seeing just how far we can go this year. We have high hopes.

“I’m also really pleased to welcome back a Motorbase original in Ollie. We first ran him in the Porsche Carrera Cup and we’ve remained friends ever since.

“He won a Championship with us in Porsche and has shown in previous seasons that he is a very capable BTCC driver, and a chance test at the end of last season showed us just how good he is.

“He has the experience in the BTCC needed to get results, and I’m anticipating great things from both Tom and Ollie this season.”