SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well, Mikey, the season is nearly upon us and you're back for another go.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Looking forward to this one. Yeah, no, I'm sure I am. We're here. Um absolutely can't wait to get going for real now for this year. Um, get out in the car getting some official practice, obviously, at the media day tomorrow. Um, and then uh try and really hone in on what we got for the season.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

So the the Audi A3 saloon with Power Max Racing uh is uh is your ride for for this season. How's that going? Development of that going?

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Yeah, I mean the cars are they look fantastic and I'm sure they're they're gonna be quick. I mean, they require a fairly late build, so running and building three cars for this year from the ground up, in and amongst changing location uh with the team who have had to relocate because of the obvious last year. So it's been a it's been a busy off season for them. So we haven't done masses of amount in the way of pre-season testing, um, but therefore, when up what experience I do have with the car, I feel like it's not going to take a lot to get it up to speed. So um, yeah, looking forward to to getting in in into the car and and really sort of gelling with it as we get into the season.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

So it sounds like out of the box you've got something that you're saying 80%, 75% comfortable with, it's just honing that now to eke out those those extra tents, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Yeah, I mean we've hopefully got over the inevitable sort of teething issues you get with a new car, um, and now we've got the car to a point where we've got the right uh right damper builds on it and all of the fundamental things that will get right, which we would have had with any other car we ran. Um we can now start to to find out what makes the car tick and what's going to get the best out of the car. But I'd say from what from the off, you know, we we feel like we're probably 80-85% of the way there already.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Oh that's good. I just briefly looking back to last season, you had some very, very good performances, some very good times and achieved a lot. There were some frustrations, obviously, which we'd spoken about, but there must have been some good learnings from last year, which you you take into this year. What might they have been?

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Um, yeah, I mean, obviously, like last year, as everyone's seen, we very much probably got the best out of the voxel that we had. Um, arguably its strongest showing in the in the championship, considering the the era that that it was peaking in when cars were much newer and much more developed and new and uh new ideas and all the rest of it. We we definitely struck gold with that car. So we're gonna take all of the good bits from the Astro, all of the good ideas we had, um, and put them into a new car with new resource and uh you know new uh new RD that perhaps wasn't there when the Astral was built to hopefully forge a really, really competitive, strong, strong racing car.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

I I mean are you are you looking I mean I know you want to be, but are you looking to be quick out of the box to be in that in that top ten consistently for those first four rounds before we go for the summer break?

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Yeah, I mean I think a top ten is very much achievable uh for the start of the season. Um, you know, and I haven't waned as a driver over the winter, so I'm still the same driver that won a race and was qualifying regularly in the top six last year. Um it'd just be a case of making sure that we're getting the best out of the car from the from the from the start of the season. Yeah, um, I can't really see any reason as to why we shouldn't be there or thereabouts when when the green light when the red lights go out at Donnington.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Absolutely. Donnington, where we know we can sometimes have four seasons in one day, don't we? I mean, famously up at Donnington in the in the wet at that time when you were dicing with Nick Hamilton. And uh that was quite a tsunami of rain appeared, didn't it?

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Yeah, that race, I mean, that's probably got to be one of my most memorable races in my BTCC career, and it was race number two. Um, yeah, that it all happened in that race, but it just shows that especially in April, the weather's gonna be all the more unpredictable. Um, so hopefully it's a really nice day and it's 20 degrees and sunny and very little wind, but it could be like that for one race, and then we could have snow by race three. So uh yeah, we've got to make sure that we're on our game and the car is versatile to cope with any conditions that are thrown at us. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

The other thing we can't predict is how the new qualifying format is going to roll out. What have you what have you made of this development?

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, I've been keeping an eye on uh obviously the rule changes, but also what the fans have been thinking of it and uh you know what they've made of it because ultimately it is for them. You know, we we're doing we've made this move to to make the show more exciting um going into this year on a Saturday. So I think the race is is going to be a positive move. Um obviously we've now got one less free practice session. So for me as a driver, and I'm sure the teams and the engineers will say the same thing, that's probably gonna be the most challenging part of it, is only having a 40-minute practice session now and then going straight into qualifying. So if you if you roll out with a bad car in free practice one, um or just free practice as it is now, then you're gonna be with a bit of an uphill battle for the afternoon when you've got them bolt on a set up for qualifying and and hope the car is better.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Have you started those strategy conversations already with the team about you know how how it might play out with this new format?

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Um not really. I know I haven't really delved into that sort of stuff yet. I think they've had probably bigger things on their mind trying to make sure they've got three cars ready for the start of the year, but they'll there's plenty of time yet between now and then the first round to decide whether there are any tactics to utilise for the for the new format. But I think it's pretty much plain white as you see it. It's just going to be obviously go as fast as you can in the qualifying and uh and don't wreck the car in in the qualifying race, bring it back.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

A couple of your uh fellow drivers have suggested to me that this season could be one of the best, if not the best, British touring car season we've seen for it for a long time. Do you get that sense as well coming into uh into 2026?

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Uh yeah, I know I know where they're coming from because uh we've got for the first time in many years now, new cars come into the grid. Um and there's a bit of a different look about the championship. Obviously, we've got um most of the grid now running saloon cars, um, which I think is just visually, I think the fans are gonna love that because that is synonymous with touring cars and how it was back in the 90s, um, which everyone loves. So I think that in itself is gonna be um gonna shake things up a bit this year, but also a few driver moves and and uh development over the winter, and obviously the the Napa Fords have uh changed their body shape as well. Um I think that there's just no there's no slow coaches on the grid anymore, you know, everyone's gonna be fast, and if you're off your game just slightly, yeah, you could be looking at bringing up the rear.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

And nobody wants that, did it. It's interesting you make the point about about the saloon cars and the look. And I I remember years ago, you know, back in the days of Joe Winkle Hock with the BMWs and you had John Cleland and and other people. And and from a distance, you could spot the cars by their outline and shape. And then we we seem to move over a number of years into very similar shapes, didn't we, give or take? So it's interesting that you mentioned that because I think the fans do notice that, and and they are looking forward to seeing touring cars as they remember them.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Yeah, I know for sure. And we've seen glimpses of the cars obviously at pre-season testing so far, and um, you know, I think they've all been presented and made out really well. Um, you know, the the reason for this shift in in the shape of the cars on the grid is to ultimately find more performance in the car and find more more speed on the straights. So it just kind of shows that no team is willing to to rest and be content with what they've got. They're always pushing the boundaries and looking for the next best thing to try and unlock a bit of time in their cars.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

It is going to be interesting to see whether that's uh the discussion about the shape and the arrow uh is gonna make uh make a difference. I think it probably will. He might be right, it might well be the best season uh yet. Have a really good season, uh Mikey. I've no doubt we'll uh we'll chat a lot as you climb down from the podium, which is what I'm I'm hoping for you, as we did last uh last season. Um, a couple of things uh just to finish. As you know, we often have a little bit of fun uh at this time of the year before the season starts with some couple of questions not related to the British Touring Car Championship at all. They're all based on the Highway Code this year. How are you on the highway code?

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Uh I mean it's it's been a few years, but not as long as some drivers you've spoken to, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

So Darrell Daryl DeLeon only passed his test a couple of years ago, so he's um he's got an unfair advantage. Well, maybe, maybe. So uh one, two, or three, pick a number. Uh we'll go for number two. Two, what shape is a stop sign? Uh it's round. No, it's a hexagon.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Okay. So I just can't see the the jaggers on the edge from where I'm sitting. Um pick one other number, one or three.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Uh go for one. One. At 40 miles per hour in the dry, uh, what is the what does the highway code suggest is the stopping distance in either metres, feet, or car lengths. We'll go for 10 car lengths? You're very close, and that's a safe one because it's they reckon it's nine. It depends on your reaction time and and condition, but they reckon in the dry with average reaction time is about nine car lengths. You were pretty much, but I'll give you that.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

No interesting, but it's a fail.

unknown 9:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Well, I'll I'll I'll be Jen. If I was your driving driving test, I'd I'd be kind to you and say you've aired on the side of caution. So well done. Let's um and you could probably stop a lot quicker in your car than that on a track, wouldn't you? I'd like to think so, yeah. If I don't, there's a problem. Mikey, have a fantastic season.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Really good to see you. Thank you. Thank you. Cheers.