Hidden in an industrial estate just a stone’s throw from the gates of Brands Hatch, the Motorbase Performance team are gearing up for an important 2016 season. Dan Wright paid an exclusive visit to the squad’s Wrotham workshop.

It is the middle of winter and the start of the next Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season is more than three months away.

But as you walk into the Motorbase Performance workshop, it’s as if the squad is getting ready to hit the track the following day.

Two of the team’s four full-time workshop-based staff are beavering away on one of their cars, fitting the new-for-2016 suspension kit to latest signing Andrew Jordan’s Ford Focus.

“It’s a very important year,” says team manager Oly Collins.

“It’s a kind of make or break, no excuses year.

“We just have to make sure we have the lead on the suspension and don’t get left behind, which is why we are putting so much effort into it now so we understand it."

The team only took part in half of the 2015 races after sponsorship issues struck but in the hands of Mat Jackson, their Mountune-powered Focus made an immediate impression, scoring four outright race wins.

Their efforts attracted Lichfield-based Jordan for the 2016 campaign, who is a series favourite and former champion.

“There’s certainly an air of expectation about next season which is good and bad,” adds Collins.

“We had such a good finish to 2015 and because we have signed Andrew, who will hopefully partner Mat at least, we have got two drivers there who are proven race winners.

“We feel that as a team we are ready to pull something together for a championship challenge.”

“Any title would be great but in all honesty, we would sacrifice all the titles available for the drivers' championship..." - Oly Collins

Formed in 2004 by ex-racer David Bartrum, the Motorbase squad – which expands to a team of 15 staff at race weekends – started out in the Porsche Carrera Cup.

They expanded into the rough-and-tumble of the BTCC in 2006 and since 2012 have also competed in GT racing.

Collins, who has been in the touring car paddock since 1998, has worked at their Tower Industrial Estate workshop since 2009.

“It’s very small and compact but for us it does the job,” he says.

“Behind the scenes you have to work as efficiently as you can.

“We don’t have the big glass-screened boardroom but it’s good enough and big enough for what we do.

“Crikey, we used to run nine cars out of here – it was an interesting and busy workshop back then!”

Along with Team Dynamics, Motorbase are the only team to build its own shells on the touring car grid.

The team does it in-house and also has dedicated rooms for damper work and spraying.

“The dampers are so sensitive,” Collins explains.

“The damping and spring relation is, for me, the key part of making the car work.

“Yes, you need a half-decent engine but it’s a lot easier to get your damping wrong than it is anything else.

“If you get your damping wrong and everything else right, the car will not work.”

For 2016, the squad hope to gain another touring car licence to run James Cole in a third car alongside Jordan and a yet-to-be-confirmed Jackson.

Collins said: “We haven’t actually won a title in touring cars but have been runners-up a few times.

“Championship honours is always the aim – the closest we came to it was probably 2011.

“It was the first year with the Focus and we were leading it at half way, but we had two bad weekends which knocked us out of it.

“Any title would be great but in all honesty, we would sacrifice all the titles available for the drivers' championship.

“That’s the one that matters and that’s the one that everybody knows about.”

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ANDREW JORDAN

Andrew Jordan became BTCC champion in 2013 aboard his family-run Honda and will enter his ninth touring car campaign this season.

“Andrew’s best years were in the family team, which had a close family feel about it,” says Collins.

“This is probably as close as you will get to a family feel without it being family by blood because of the way David runs it.”

After signing a deal to join Motorbase, Jordan got to grips with his new ride at a Brands Hatch test session late last year.

“A driver like Andrew is so experienced in a variety of different cars, it doesn’t take him long to dial himself into a new one..." - Oly Collins

The 26-year-old will pilot a striking new blue chrome design on his Pirtek-backed Focus in 2016.

Collins said: “Arguably when we went to the test we thought it would be a glorified seat-fitting, but it turned into a very productive test.

“A driver like Andrew is so experienced in a variety of different cars, it doesn’t take him long to dial himself into a new one.

“It was interesting how he found our technical approach to the regulations.

“It was pleasant that he got in and felt the car was better than what he had in the past and it did everything he wanted it to do.

“He’s a very nice guy and a very good driver and we have got a nice fit.

“It all feels very comfortable.”

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GT RACING

As well as their full BTCC campaign, the Motorbase team will also field cars in sportscars this year.

They won the prestigious British GT Championship in 2012 with Michael Caine and Daniele Perfetti, and will continue their pursuit of silverware in 2016.

Focusing on the Blancpain Endurance Championship and domestic British GT series, the squad will continue to run their GT3 Aston Martins.

“Endurance racing is a totally different kettle of fish to touring cars,” says Collins.

“A touring car race is hammer and tongs for 30 minutes. If you have a problem in your first race, you then have another two attempts to get a good race weekend.

“If you have that in the first half-hour of a GT race, that’s it, there’s no chance of coming back.”

Collins, who is aiming for overall wins in British GT and class honours in Blancpain this year, saw his squad start their preparations in fine fashion at the end of 2015.

Entering the Gulf 12 hours in Abu Dhabi for the first time, Motorbase’s Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 scored a podium finish in the hands of Ahmad Al Harthy, Darren Turner and Jonny Adam.

The machine was guided to third-place at the Yas Marina circuit, running under the Oman Racing Team banner.