Handy Motorsport is ready to embark on a fresh chapter in its Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship story at Snetterton 300 Circuit next weekend, 8th/9th August, when American driver Robb Holland makes his first competitive appearance for the squad in rounds 16, 17 and 18.
Replacing team principal Simon Belcher behind the wheel of the team’s Webb Garden Power Equipment and KÄRCHER liveried Toyota Avensis for the next three BTCC race meetings, the Denver 47-year-old will also be tackling his first races since the penultimate event of the 2014 campaign.
Holland got his first taste of the Avensis a couple of weeks ago during an officially timed Dunlop tyre test at the East Anglian track and after getting to grips with the car, the Oakley Motorsports backed driver declared himself satisfied with his maiden run.
Enjoying his first experience of working with the Handy Motorsport mechanics and engineers, and those of partner team Speedworks Motorsport, Holland is now absolutely relishing the prospect of being back on a BTCC grid as he strives to deliver a good account of himself.
“Robb gave us some good feedback from the test and we also have my data to work with from the back-to-back test I did with Tom Ingram’s car”, commented team boss Belcher, “We’ve obviously got Robb’s data from last year in his Audi too, so there’s a lot to work with to try and get the best set-up we can for next weekend.”
Belcher, who will focus solely on his team principal role at Snetterton, and also at Knockhill and Rockingham, before returning to the driving seat for the final two events of the 2015 season, is looking forward to spending the entire race weekend on the opposite side of the pitwall.
Drafting in Holland for nine races to help Handy Motorsport rebalance its financial position, as a result of the expense of repairing the Toyota following an accident in qualifying at Thruxton earlier in the year, Belcher says the decision taken to bring in another driver is a key step toward the big plans which the Wiltshire squad is working on for 2016 and beyond.
“It’s important for us to keep pushing forward, if I’d stayed in the car for the rest of the season it would have compromised the team budget and hindered our plans for next year”, he added, “We’re here for the long term in the BTCC and working hard on very exciting new plans for 2016 – we may be in a position to say more about that in the next few weeks.
“As far as next weekend goes, I’m looking forward to being on the pitwall and being more involved in the operational side. It’ll give me more insight into what goes on behind the scenes, the sort of things I don’t get visibility of when I’m in the car. It should be good for the team as a whole having Robb onboard, having full focus on the driving and bringing a different approach and ideas.”
Free practice for the BTCC competitors will take place at 09.30 and 12.10 on Saturday, 8th August, at Snetterton with qualifying set to follow at 15.45. On Sunday, 9th August, round 16 will commence just after 12.00 with round 17 beginning at 14.35 and round 18 scheduled to start at 16.55
