BTCC - BTC Racing drops Lexus for Seat Toledos

BTC Racing is 'sorry to lose' the Lexus cars, but the team is excited about the proven Seats

BTC Racing has dropped its Lexus IS200s in favour of a pair of ex-works SEAT Toledos for the remainder of the 2008 HiQ British Touring Car Championship.

The team has opted to make the switch after a series of niggles plagued the IS200s at the opening two meetings of the season. The two Seats Toledos were raced by Motorbase Performance in 2007 and by the Seat manufacturer team in 2004 and 2005, and have a proven track record in the BTCC.

"We have been lucky enough to secure a pair of very good cars for the remainder of the 2008 season", said BTC Racing principal Bert Taylor. “Although we weren’t particularly successful with the BTC Lexus cars, they are still potential top 10 cars and we will be sorry to not work with them for the remainder of the season. The knowledge we have learnt from racing the Lexus has given us the confidence to move forward and we feel that this is a great opportunity to become even more competitive.

"The whole team are very excited about the switch. The Seat’s are proven race winners and their purchase was an opportunity we couldn’t turn down. Running them will put BTC Racing in a very strong position.

"We also have the advantage of having Gareth Howell as our reserve driver. Gareth raced one of these cars in the 2007 season and his knowledge of the cars will be invaluable."

BTCCpages.com