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Young guns of the BTCC announce co-operation plans

By MJP Media | 17 July 2014

In an announcement that makes unusually good sense in the racing world, two of the BTCC's brightest young stars announced that their teams would be working collaboratively for the remainder of the 2014 season.

Aiden Moffat at Donington Park

Aiden Moffat's Laser Tools Racing has been working hard in their first season in the championship and whilst showing glimpses of Aiden's undoubted talent, have found that they lag behind the more established teams in terms of data and limited testing with the new Chevrolet Cruze car. On the other hand, relative veteran, but still a youngster himself, Adam Morgan's Ciceley Motorsport crew have had rave reviews for the way in which they have adapted to the brand new Mercedes Benz A-Class they are running for the Wix Racing team.

The deal will see Laser Tools Racing contracting a large part of their engineering across to the far more experienced Ciceley team who will provide setup data and share information over race weekends. It is likely that Laser Tools Racing will still have their own weekend personnel but they will be running under the guidance of the Ciceley boffins. As part of the deal, Laser Tools Racing are taking on one of the BTCC's favourite characters, Tom Onslow-Cole, as Performance Director. Tom will be helping Aiden as a mentor and the team in general when his racing commitments allow.

Adam Morgan in the Wix Racing Mercedes Benz A-Class

The deal, which has been some time in the making, started seriously immediately after Croft's disappointments for Moffat when the Chevrolet Cruze spent some time at Ciceley's workshops for evaluation. Team boss Bob Moffat said: "We spoke to a few interested teams. We have carefully assessed our progress and everyone in the team did a fantastic job to get the car on the grid for the start of the season. It has of course been a steep learning curve and we felt the summer break was the right time for our next move."

Bob continued: "The opportunity to work with an experienced operation like Ciceley Motorsport is a great step for us and we hope to benefit from their preparation qualities and in overseeing of the car during a race weekend. Furthermore we believe that Aiden working directly with Onslow-Cole will bring immediate benefits. Tom is so experienced as a BTCC driver, having driven and won in a number of different machines. He's also been in the position where Aiden is now - starting out in the BTCC - so he'll be a huge help I'm sure."

Tom Onslow-Cole in the 2013 Airwaves Racing Ford Focus

"I am really pleased to be helping Aiden and the team, as well as returning to see lots of familiar faces in the BTCC paddock" enthused Onslow-Cole. He continued: "I believe I have lots of experience to give, both on the driving front but also having worked with a number of BTCC cars including the latest NGTC machines. I have worked with Paul Ridgeway before and I also coached Aiden during his Fiesta days so there's already a relationship there and I can't wait to get started."

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