ABS Motorsport 16V Minisprint Championship

Rounds 1 & 2 , 1st + 2nd May - Scarborough Festival of Speed Bike & Car Hill Climb Oliver's Mount

This is the 1^st Championship that ABS Motorsport has supported and the 1^st weekend went quite well for the drivers that made it to Scarborough.
 

Alan McDonald with his Hyabusa Powered Mini -
 

Allan beat Keith Hardy's Radical again for outright win & even took the Libre lap record knocking over a second off his previous fastest time. He very nearly got under 43 secs, which is eye wateringly quick for a single seater never mind a RWD Mini. Think he said that he's beaten 10 Radicals or thereabouts ........ he's getting cross-through stickers for the side of his car to signify each Radical he 'destroys'.

Geoff Owen with his Vauxhall Powered Mini -

Geoff drove 250+ miles for his first ever event with the car & then raced it with soft brake pedal & broken power steering. Still he managed a very respectable time in the 54 secs which is as quick as most on the first trip up Ollies Mt. Beautiful wee motor too ..... far too nice for racing.

Paul Waterhouse with his Vauxhall Powered Mini -

Paul knocked 2.5 secs off his previous fastest time, so all the winter mods must feel well worth it. His car was going very light at the rear under braking so there were a couple of brown trouser moments at the Mere hairpin. Eventually he went rallycrossing at the top of the hill after posting a 55 sec run in the wet, on slicks, but not too much £££ damage was done I dont think.

Andy Snowden with his Vauxhall Powered Mini -

Andy only managed one run before snapping a rose joint, which resulted in a bent coilover, gouged tyre & punctured oil pressure gauge line. Fortunately Allan has generator & angle grinder so he chopped the damaged items away. Paul had a spare oil gauge line, so he donated that. Andrew only lives an hour away from Ollies Mt, so went home & got the spare HT rosejoints, then straightened the shocker before heading back to Scarborough to re-assemble everything. Andrew received the 1^st ABS Motorsport 'Best Achievement' award.

Richard Cole with his K Series Powered Mini -

Richard got into the 48's secs & won his first trophy for first in class over the weekend and was equal fastest FWD up the hill with Bobby Fryers 206. In all he seamed to have a fast, trouble free weekend. Richard received the 2^nd ABS Motorsport 'Best Achievement' award.

ABS Motorsport 'Best Achievement' award (Richard left, Andy right) -

The Championship standings are as follows -

2010 BTCC (British Touring Car Championship) after Round 9

The 2010 BTCC drivers with support from ABS Motorsport – Dave Pinkney, Matt Hamilton, Martin Johnson, Shaun Hollamby and Lea Wood have had a mixed start to the season so far.

Dave Pinkney with his Pinkney Motorsport Team are running Fabrizio Giovanardi's Vectra from 2009 but with the new NGTC specification Turbo Engine, this is proving a challenge with set ups as the unit is heavier than the Vauxhall power plant but each round they are gaining pace. Dave currently has 18 independent points but this could have been a lot more as in round 9 at Brands Hatch Dave was making his way through the field before having a gearbox failure whilst in 6^th position. More information can be found here - http://www.pinkd.co.uk/news/0044.asp

Matt Hamilton with TH Motorsport are running a Honda Civic and are making good progress with Matt in in 1^st full season in the BTCC. Matt has had plenty of battles in the midfield and currently has 14 independent points. More information can be found here - http://www.matthamiltonracing.com/newsarchive.php#newsb

Martin Johnson with his Boulevard Racing team is in the oldest car on the BTCC grid, the Astra Coupe. Although the car is almost 10 years old Martin 'Giant Killer' Johnson is mixing it with the newer machinery and is having a blast in the 2010 championship. Martin currently has 9 Independent points but this could have been more as he was making his way through the pack in round 7 at brands hatch only to have a spin and a DNF, with another DNF in round 8 and failed to make the start in round 9.

Shaun Hollamby and his AmD team are taking on one of the largest projects for a small independent team in quite some time for the BTCC, They are fielding a VW Golf that they have had to rebuild from scratch to BTCC Specification, designing many parts them selves. ABS Motorsport designed and supply the Aero package and there are a few evolutions coming through for the next few rounds. The golf has no data available so all testing and development is being done during the free practice, qualifying and actual races during the weekend events so it is a steep learning curve for Shaun and his team with the main goal being to finish. This hasnt allways been possible due to component failure, but each time the component is redesigned or improved for the next round. Shaun currently has 1 independent point, which is great for a new, untested car after just 3 weekends. More information can be found here - http://www.amdmilltekracing.com/index.cfm with what is possibly one of the best BTCC build blogs available here - http://www.amdessex.com/btcc.blog.cfm

Lea Wood with Central Group Racing are running a Honda Integra. Lea had his debut in the BTCC from round 7 at Brands hatch and was immediately on the pace out qualifying John George in a newer specification Integra. Lea had a good race in round 7 finishing 13^th, a DNF in round 8 and was up to 8^th in round 9 before his tyre choice let him down and slipped out of the main points finishing in 11^th place overall. Lea currently has 4 independent points after his 1^st weekend in the BTCC.