Well we’re nearly in the 6th month of the year and we haven’t had a race…back on the 27th February when we started testing no-one could have envisaged this. Ironically we normally have so much to do, during off season development, that we have to seriously burn the candles at both ends running up to a season start and this year we had it under control (ish).

We’d launched the car on the 16th March (Albeit behind closed doors) and had the first round at the end of the following week. Then the next day all Motorsport in the UK was suspended. It was inevitable but still a shock and left many unanswered questions.

Ironically we’d pretty much set the spec for the car, apart from a few minor details, and were busy upspeccing Dan’s car from 2019 to 2020 spec for it all to come to a sudden halt. We then had to embark on countermeasures to aid the team and business. The climaxed with the staff being furloughed at the end of March.

From then to now it’s been slightly surreal that we haven’t turned a wheel and it all came to a complete stop so suddenly with the team being put in to hibernation within a few days.

Now the race shop is a little like the Mary Celeste frozen in time. I’ve been making excuses to pop in on a regular basis (Like every other day!) and it’s eerie almost apocalyptic.

For the last 2 months I’ve been enjoying the weather, garden along with cycling and walking. I’ve actually lost weight and feel fitter but haven’t enjoyed the DIY. The cars are in fear of being polished away and my wife is getting a little annoyed at the amount of times I’ve cleaned and polished it.

Times are going to get back to normal imminently as we’re re-opening the Race Shop at the beginning of June and whilst I’ve enjoyed the family time and relaxation I’m definitely ready to get back to the grindstone.

The first job will be to get the facilities back up and running and catch up on regular site maintenance requirements that come with a 30,000sq ft facility. Then I’ll be focussed on the upcoming season and the challenges that this will present along with how we can change these challenges in to opportunities and maximise the BTCC season ahead.

Going on to future blogs I’ll endeavour to give an insight in to a top flight BTCC team and all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on.