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AmDTuning.com is the latest BTCC team to embrace NGTC

By MJP Media | 7 January 2013

The AmDTuning.com team has today confirmed that it will return to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship for a fourth season in 2013 with a new look programme featuring a car built to the NGTC regulations.

An artist's impression of the AmDTuning.com Vauxhall Astra

After three years running its Super 2000-spec Volkswagen Golf, the West Thurrock-based team is to undertake development of its first NGTC-spec machine for the new season, making it the latest team to embrace rules introduced to the series to reduce costs.

Following careful consideration of the options available, the team has selected the latest incarnation of the Vauxhall Astra as its weapon of choice. Due the late nature of the deal to build the new Astra, the team will start the 2013 season running its Volkswagen Golf before introducing the Astra for the second half of the campaign. Final specification of the car is still to be decided, although the team plans to use the TOCA engine seen in a number of machines on the grid.

Ollie Jackson driving the 2012 Volkswagen Golf

"When I first saw the Astra I thought it would make a fantastic BTCC car and I'm excited about this new programme." said team boss Shaun Hollamby. "While this is a privateer programme, Vauxhall has been an integral part of British Touring Cars for a long time and we are fully focused on producing a car that will be capable of challenging at the sharp end of the grid." He continued "The Astra is a good size with strong aerodynamics and fits well into the regulations, which seem to favour the smaller and more nimble cars. While we have been thinking about this move for some time, the fact that the programme has come together now means we will focus on developing the Astra for the second half of the season, giving us the chance to build the car and do some testing before giving it its race debut."

Drivers for the new programme are still to be confirmed with the possibility that the team could end up running both its existing Golf and the new Astra when the NGTC-spec car is ready to hit the track. Hollamby explained: "We are talking with Ollie Jackson and would love to keep him onboard as he did a great job last year and showed that he deserves his place in the BTCC but we are also interested in speaking to other drivers who are interested in competing in the series this season."

Ollie Jackson on two wheels at Rockingham last year

Hollamby continued "While our plan at the moment is to start the year with the Golf before introducing the Astra, we could run the Volkswagen for the full season if the right driver comes along who wants to compete for the Jack Sears Trophy. With the reduced boost levels that the S2000 cars will run to, it will be a competitive package for a driver who doesn't quite have the budget to go with an NGTC programme. With that in mind, there are various options for us to explore on the driver front and we will make an announcement in due course when the final decisions have been made."

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