On Friday, the eBay Motors Team will travel to Oulton Park eager to claim their second podium finish at the fourth round of this years Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). The team, who are currently in fourth position with Colin Turkington in eighth individually, have everything to play for with 21 races still remaining in the championship contest.Oulton Park boasts fond memories and success for the team, especially former BTCC Champion Turkington, who has received the coveted Oulton Specialist badge of honour four times already. It will also be the first time Turkington has returned to the track since 2009, the year he scooped the converted Championship prize overall.
Alongside Turkington, teammates Rob Collard and Nick Foster will be seeking competitive qualifying times on Saturday to assist in their bid to boost overall rankings from seventeenth and eighteenth respectively. The picturesque but notoriously challenging circuit has historically provided some of the championship's ferocious racing with popular overtaking spots at Old Hall, the Island hairpin, Knickerbrook and Lodge.The thirty strong eBay Motors team have been hard at work over the past month testing the new BMW 125i M-Sport at Silverstone and Brands Hatch. Lead by Team Principle, Dick Bennetts, the car has been tweaked and tuned to ascertain its full potential and the process is set to continue for the remainder of the season.Alongside a weekend of fierce racing, the eBay Motors team are also heading to the north-west to mark the debut of Hub Live, an interactive experiential zone that enables racing fan to experience motorsport first-hand on Saturday and Sunday. Hub Live will allow visitors to take part in a variety of activities including a four person race simulator. Here they can challenge themselves against friends and family, as well as times set by the professional trio of Turkington, Collard and Foster. Fans will also get the chance to watch the drivers take part in a live question and answer sessions, gather autographs, shake the hands of their track idols and much more.
Dick Bennetts, Team Principal of eBay Motors, said: Traditionally Oulton Park has been a good circuit for WSR, Colin has had a few wins there in the past as the track suited the older BMW. This year the car is young in terms of experience, it has lots of potential and whilst we made some good progress when Nick [Foster] tested at Donington, it was quite wet in the morning. You could say the weather has tested us more than the team has had opportunities to test the car!The eBay Motors BMW 125i M Sport is moving in the right direction and we have been busy testing at Brands Hatch. As always, Im optimistic and looking forward to getting out there and seeing the car run.Colin Turkington, eBay Motors Driver said Its an exciting year for eBay Motors, we may not have had as many top three finishes as Id like but we are getting closer with every race. We have to use every opportunity to learn about the car we get, its not as simple as you might think. Its a supremely fast car and its intelligent, we just have to learn how hard to push its buttons.I enjoy this time though, its fun and nerve racking at the same time. I have some great memories from Oulton Park and hope I can re-kindle some of that winning formula this weekend. Im not holding back, I will have my foot down and if the weather holds out I know we can do well.
