The AmDTuning.com team is optimistic about its chances through the remainder of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season

despite a challenging debut weekend for the teams new Honda Civic at Snetterton.

The West Thurrock-based team went into the sixth meeting of the season aiming to challenge for honours in the Jack Sears Trophy, having

elected to swap its Volkswagen Golf for the Honda that carried Matt Neal to the overall championship back in 2011.

With Isle of Wight-based racer James Kaye having only sampled the car for the first time in a brief test at the Norfolk circuit prior to

the race weekend, the team went into the Saturday practice sessions seeking to maximise its time on track, with James matching the pace

of his Jack Sears Trophy rivals throughout.

Having then qualified second in class, James went into the opening race seeking to add to the two wins he enjoyed earlier in the season,

only for a turbo failure to force him into retirement after four laps.

With the issue resolved for race two, James battled his way up the order to chase down leader Lea Wood, only for a power steering issue

to emerge that saw him slip down the field.

The same issue would then prevent James from taking the start of race three but he remains optimistic about the future given the pace

displayed over the course of the weekend.

We probably came into the weekend setting our expectations a bit high with a new car, and of course we come away disappointed that we

failed to get a win, he said. However, Snetterton was going to a tough circuit with the boost we had, and we couldnt have foreseen the

issues we then faced.

Weve just got to get on with the job at hand and come out fighting next time out. The car is very, very good and it handles superbly,

which is just what you need when you get to Knockhill, so Im confident that well be able to put this one behind us and show what we can

do.

Team boss Shaun Hollamby said that there was still plenty for the team to be optimistic about, despite the challenging nature of the

first weekend with the new car.

It took James a few sessions to get up to speed in the car, but he qualified well and arguably should have been quickest of the S2000

drivers," he said. "He was running strongly in the first race until the turbo issue, and the power steering problem that we then faced in

races two and three was one of those things that hasnt been seen with the car before.

Of course we hoped to celebrate the cars debut with some stronger results on track, but the potential is clear to see. Lea [Wood] has

had a good weekend this weekend but he can still be caught, and there is no reason why we cant go to Knockhill and pick up three wins

later in the month.

Although the team endured a tough time on track, it was able to celebrate the start of a new partnership with Scorpion Exhausts, who

provide the system on the Civic and will also now work alongside AmDTuning.com on its tuning business away from the circuit.

Were pleased to be working with Scorpion on both the racing programme and our core business, Shaun said. They were already involved

with the Honda from its time with the works team, and were delighted to be able to extend those links to include providing Scorpion

exhausts for our customers.

Scorpion Exhausts boss Shaun Leonard said he was also pleased to be able to confirm the new partnership between the two companies.

Were delighted to be both a main sponsor and technical partner for the team, he said. We feel that the joint venture will prove

successful for both parties, endorsing the Scorpion philosophy of track to road technology transfer.