Airwaves Racing today (Wednesday) announced its new title sponsorship of the Motorbase Performance Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) squad for the 2013 season. David Bartrum’s Kent-based squad confirmed it will compete under the ‘Airwaves Racing’ banner in the forthcoming season after securing an amplified title sponsorship deal with leading chewing gum brand Wrigley’s Airwaves. The fresh new livery was unveiled to the public for the first time on Monday (4th March) at the start of a week-long launch road-show. Two internal staff launches at Wrigley’s Reading and Plymouth sites saw hundreds of staff turn out to greet the team on Monday and Tuesday this week; with the Airwaves Racing NGTC machines taking to the track for the first time tomorrow (Thursday) before Friday’s (8th March) team press launch at Ford Dagenham Edgware brings the week’s activities to a close. Team Mates Mat Jackson & Aron Smith Following the recent announcement that both Mat Jackson and Aron Smith will be returning to the Motorbase fold competing in the new in-house built Mountune-powered NGTC Ford Focus ST’s; 2013 is set to be the team’s most ambitious assault on the BTCC and Airwaves Racing are expected to be serious title contenders this coming season. In addition to its new title sponsorship, Airwaves Racing has also retained its major sponsor partners for the 2013 season with the return of leading information technology supplier Redstone, mobile technology company Truphone and London’s largest minicab operator Addison Lee. Airwaves Racing and its associate sponsors are set to roll-out a number of initiatives during the 2013 season to enable fans to get even closer to what is already one of the most popular teams of the grid including a new range of team merchandise which will be available through motorsport clothing retailer Dread. Round 1 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship takes place on 30/31 March 2013, with the official media day taking place at Donington Park on 21st March. Airwaves Racing Team Principal David Bartrum said: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Airwaves back on board as title sponsor for this season. This year marks the brand’s fourth year with the team and once again shows the strength and appeal of the championship to attract leading brands such as Wrigley. This week’s internal launches at Wrigley’s have been a great testament to how far the partnership has come in the past four years. We literally had hundreds of staff come along to see the unveiling of the new Focus livery and it was great to be able to give them a chance to get involved and meet the team for themselves. “We’re also very happy to have Redstone, Truphone and Addison Lee back with us as major sponsors. With the new NGTC cars and increased backing from our sponsors, 2013 is gearing up to be our strongest ever challenge on the title, hopefully we can repay them with a BTCC title.” Wrigley’s Airwaves Brand Manager Tia Shortall said: “Airwaves is proud to be title sponsors of the Motorbase team this year. Airwaves is a great fit with Motorsport because it’s more than just gum – its unique flavour kick allows you to take a deep breath and really go for it! We’ve been involved in Motorsport for many years, but felt that the title sponsorship gave us a brilliant opportunity to make it bigger & bolder than we ever have before.” Redstone Managing Director Fraser Fisher said: “We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with the Motorbase team over the last two years and are delighted to be able to partner them once again in 2013. Redstone are very proud of our partnership with Airwaves Racing in the BTCC and this year’s major backing is key to our on-going marketing strategy. We look forward to sharing another winning season with the team and offering a uniquely exhilarating experience to our customers, staff and suppliers alike.” Truphone Managing Director Robert Jones said: “Motorbase is an extraordinary team, their ‘can do’ attitude and technical know-how helps them win races against much larger players. We have that spirit here at Truphone, and we look forward to another exciting season as we support Motorbase in the 2013 British Touring Car Championship.”

Continue reading here:
BREAKING NEWS: Airwaves Racing unwrap new title sponsorship of Motorbase BTCC squad

Irish GT driver Matt Griffin got has 2013 season of to a promising start by making the podium at last weekends Bathurst 12 hour endurance race in NSW Australia. The newly signed Ram Racing driver was fulfilling a prior commitment to Singapore-based Clearwater Racing. An heroic performance saw the Ferrari team go one position better than last year, as their Ferrari 458 GT3 ended the day second after being in contention for much of the first half of the race. The fast growing reputation of this Southern hemisphere enduro was born out in practice with the first five cars in Practice One separated by just 0.89 of a second. Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Corvette and Mercedes were all represented in the top five but outright supremacy fell to Christopher Mies who pushed his Audi R8 LMS Ultra to a best time of a 2m 09.8768, Mies’s lap was good enough to hold off a charging Matt Griffin who posted a 2m 09.8794 in the Clearwater Racing Ferrari F458. In Qualifying Lee Holdsworth put the Erebus Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 on provisional pole position in the morning’s first qualifying session, setting his fastest lap 21 minutes into the session, his best of 2m 06.22s just 0.2s away from the benchmark time allowed in the session. Dane Allan Simonsen pushed the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 458 to a stunning lap of 2m05.4908s smashing the benchmark time and earned the team a 50kg weight penalty for the race. This lost them their fastest lap – relegating the no.88 Ferrari to second place with their second best lap time – 2m06.4839s. The Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 of Craig Baird, Matt Griffin and Mok Weng Sung timed third-fastest, Griffin’s 2m06.9985s lap just 0.5s behind the leading Erebus Mercedes. With no-one in the top ten going quicker in the afternoon session the starting positions stayed the same. As the race got underway lead drivers Craig Baird and Irish ace Matt Griffin were in superb form, but unfortunately contact by team owner Mok Weng Sung with another car mid-race saw the team drop of the lead lap – a lap they would never get back. Early in the race Griffin made up more than two minutes after an early safety car saw them ‘misplaced’ in the running order – costing them nearly a full lap that was skilfully recovered by the flying Irishman. Baird replicated his team-mate’s efforts later in the race, a Bathurst stint of the ages lifting the car from being out of podium contention to back in the hunt and eventually in contention for their eventual second-place finish. Matt Griffin commented after the race “Yeah I know it is brilliant to be back. I mean this race and this track is just something else. Yeah it is harder in the car this year and for an Irishman I’m not sure what I would prefer sliding around in the rain or burning up inside the car. Last year was just really tough, it was probably one of the toughest races I have ever done. So yeah, I am hoping it will stay dry this year. I wouldn’t mind the temperature dropping a few notches though.”

The rest is here:
Griffin Makes Podium Down Under

Another eventful year has passed for KCMG and as we are in between racing seasons, it’s nice to recollect the highlights of 2012. The team was very busy competing in different series’ across Asia last year. Aside from the Japanese F3 and Formula Nippon championships which we’ve been part of since 2008, we took part in new racing competitions that kept us on our toes. Each month, I was flying from one country to another, managing our teams that ran in Formula Pilota China and Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia. Spearheading these new projects was quite interesting as events were staged in different circuits that went as far as Ordos in Inner Mongolia. Formula Pilota China allowed the team to work with young drivers from across the globe. Given that it was a new entry-level Formula series, it gave me a refreshing opportunity to guide rookies who displayed impressive potential on the circuit. It was an exciting season, considering the highs and lows that we experienced as we competed at different circuits with diverse young drivers. Our affable rivalry with Eurasia has made the season all the more interesting, as the challenge to win the championship title grew more intense during every event. As we took podiums and victories over the course of six months, our British driver Dan Wells finished as Championship runner up after a tight battle with Eurasia’s Antonio Giovanazzi. Not too shabby for our first year running in the series. During the season, we also ran two 15 year olds, Akash Nandy from Malaysia and Yuta Shiraishi from Japan, who both impressed me. Being involved in Lamborghini Super Trofeo has also been a great experience. We had two entries in this prestigious event, allowing us to work with two teams – one from Taiwan and one from Indonesia. We took our first win during the final event at Shanghai F1 circuit with Indonesian/Italian pairing of Andrea Garbagnati and Bob Indrasasana, successfully capping off a satisfying first season in a GT endurance series. Last year’s campaign in the ultra-competitive Japanese Formula 3 series was also successful, underlined by Gary Thompson’s third place finish in the championship and his impressive victory in Motegi last August. It was inspiring how Gary demonstrated his ability in a Formula car- after he started 4th on the grid and eventually clinching that top spot on the podium after delivering a feisty and flawless drive. As the team anticipates a brand new racing season, I brace myself for another hectic year that I hope will be more successful than the last one. Expect that we’ll still be part of the slew of championships that we’ve competed in last year. As some of you may have heard by now, we’ve also been granted an entry in the oldest and highly celebrated sports car endurance race in the world-the Le Mans 24 Hours! As a massive fan of this distinguished race, I’m beyond thrilled to head to France in June, not as a spectator, but as part of a participating team! I’m looking forward to a frenzied year of great racing for KCMG and despite the hectic schedule ahead, I will do my best to keep everyone here updated. Thanks, JOH.

More here:
John O’Hara: From Mondello to Le Mans!

Sean Walkinshaw is the next driver to be announced by Team West-Tec F3 for its 2013 European Formula 3 Open line up, having impressed in testing back in the late summer of 2012.

The 19 year old from Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom has had a busy year, racing primarily in BARC Formula Renault an… [Read More]
News – Single Seater Racing

Cameron Twynham is the first driver to be announced by Team West-Tec F3 for its 2013 European Formula 3 Open line up, after a successful debut car racing season in 2012.

The 16 year old competed in the 2012 Intersteps Championship and the BARC Formula Renault Winter Series, notching up an impress… [Read More]
News – Single Seater Racing