SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well Dan, two weeks to go till the start of the season. Exciting development from you, which you've been known for for a little while now. Plato racing, you and Adam Morgan. It's gonna be a cracking season, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Uh yeah, I think so. Um we've been very, very busy, as you can imagine. Uh finally got the cars on track a couple of weeks ago at Croft. Yeah, I think it's gonna be great. I think we're looking we're looking quite good. You know, the cars feel very, very strong. Um yeah, but that's only the tip of the iceberg, you know. The getting the cars on the track hasn't been that difficult actually in the end. Um, but when you're trying to set a race team up in like five and a half, six months, that's a bit more of a challenge.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Yeah, building those new cars. I mean, the two sort of key components being the engine, the powertrain, and and the chassis, and are those two sort of where they are or where they need to be for you ready for the season, yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Yeah, I think so. I mean, you know, we've partnered with M Sport for the for the powertrain. Uh and in testing so far, it feels really strong, feels good. Um, but you know, ultimately we won't know that until qualifying at Donlington, I guess. Um, and the chassis, yeah. I mean, our first impressions are this thing's really good. Uh, but we don't know where anyone else is, we don't know what they're doing, we don't know what they're up to. Um, so we'll have to reserve judgment again until next week, or maybe even tomorrow, we might see a little bit tomorrow when we do our test day after the media shots. But I think having driven a lot of these cars now, it feels pretty pretty pretty spicy.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

I I guess you start with a completely blank piece of paper. You've got you've got you're looking at a computer screen with no data on it, so you don't know what your start point is until you've done your first lap, really.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Well, yeah, in terms of setup, you know, the the the cars have been developed, you know, and engineered by our partners at RML. So they know a thing or two about developing a project. So they've this is their third project that they've reverse engineered from from a road car, effectively. So they had their um uh short wheelbase um uh project, which was four or five years ago, I think, where they basically reverse engineered a Ferrari 550 Marinello and made it look like a classic Ferrari, and that was all done with scanning and CFD and very clever tech, and then they've done their P39 program, which is a very, very exciting 992.1 Porsche codes to get me confused. The latest Gen Turbo S pre-hybrid, and they've reverse engineered that and created this amazing, fully aerodynamic machine. Um, and then the third project was was our project, and they started with a standard A-class saloon road car in the workshop in second or third week of October. We started too late, really, and they've scanned it and taken all that data and all that surface data, and then they've run it through CFD and they've modelled it, and they've gone on. Well, this is where we think the aero needs to be, and then we think this is where the aero needs to be at that ride height, and then at this wheelbase, and they've gone through a whole myriad of different scenarios digitally. So, really, all we've got to do is verify the the the what they've what they've engineered effectively. So, um, for sure there's been you know there hasn't been any nasty surprises. Uh Croft was a bit of a shot in the dark because we just threw a set upon it and hoped for the best. Um, and the data we collected at Croft allowed us to go to SNET last week. We had a two-day test there, which was really good, and you know, the car felt like we were in a really, really nice window. And um, yeah, I think we're in a strong place. You know, the car, the chassis feels fantastic, but like I say, we've only just we haven't really done any development work yet, we've just put a setup on it and and drove it, and it's quite different to drive. I was just explaining that to Louise in in the other room that the car is not like any other touring car I've driven, you know. Um first and foremost, it's you know the build quality is unbelievable. So I know it sounds like a really stupid thing, but all the rattles and vibrations and banging and panels moving and that you get in a normal touring car, none of that's there. So it's a really different experience to drive. It's more like driving a really well, it's more like driving a 600,000 euro GT3 car, you know, it's really, really well built. Um, so yeah, I think Adam and I we're just a bit blown away because we think, man, gosh, the lap times look really, really good, and we haven't really got to work yet. So yeah, it's very complimentary of the driver, so that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Um, how important was it for you and for the team to come back or to bring back into the series the Mercedes and not just go with it with another mark? Because you you could have chosen any number of vehicles, but you went for something that hasn't been around for a while. We because you've you've got history with the Mercedes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

But we were looking at we were looking at a different completely different mark to be honest, and that only didn't happen because we ran out of time. That other mark is still on the back burner, we're still bubbling away, we're still in comp communication with them, and it may happen for 2027. But what we what happened was when we realized that we were out of time, we then were like, well, if we're gonna do this in 2026, let's start with the most aerodynamic, slippery road car we can get our hands on. We then went through loads and loads of data with RML. What has the lowest CF CFD, lowest drag coefficient of any road car, and that was the A-class saloon. Um it bettered the the the CLA was notoriously famous for being the slipperest saloon car manufactured. And when they facelifted the A-class saloon in 2022 or late 21, that actually pipped the CLA. So that's the reason why we're in Mercedes. So yes, it's important, and yes, it's it's it's nice to bring the market back, but that wasn't the criteria, the criteria was out and out performance.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

It's interesting to see this year uh a swing towards saloon cars as well, isn't it? Which is sort of going back to the the what is the yeah, the uh the heady days of touring cars.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Absolutely. Well, you know, we we can't ignore the fact that you know for the past three seasons, I and I has been very, very fast. They've got a very, very good engine. Um, but you can't argue with drag and physics, and it being a saloon car is is is probably you know helps towards their straight line performance. And you know, when I was at Napa last year, Tony Ash's engineer was absolutely adamant that if they could create a focus saloon or build a saloon car, they'd find an advantage over what they had with hatchback. So there was absolutely no point in us starting with a hatch. We had to start with a saloon car. But as you know, buying trends and road car trends in the UK, especially Europe Europe in in total now, it everyone's driving sort of soft roaders, you know, little pumped up SUV, so you don't have a lot to choose from. And yeah, the Merc was the best of the bunch, so we picked it.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Um now you had uh a testing livery. We did, which made my eyes go funny, right? I'll be perfect. I'll be perfectly honest. It made my eyes go funny. So I was keeping my fingers crossed that you would you would have a new livery for the season. Uh is that ready for the day tomorrow? Be released tomorrow. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

It might be released tonight, we haven't made the decision yet. I I might have had a sneak preview. Well, what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 7:05

It's nice, good, nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Don't get too excited. It doesn't, the chair leg nearly fell off.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

It's all it's all gone, it's all gone really, really well. Um, so just just finally, uh well nearly finally, um you want to win. Absolutely. And last uh year, uh you know, uh didn't perhaps end the way that that you wanted it to. You said in the offseason that you're coming back in it, you want to be in it to win it. Can you do it with a new car in your first season?

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Well, look, yeah, I do want to win it, but I also have brought a really loyal partner with me for a long time, Cataclean. They've been with me since my my return to motor racing, and those guys also deserve to win this championship, you know, and you know, they put such an enormous amount of effort in um uh and loyalty and trust, and they deserve really, really good things. So, you know, they've come on board this year with this journey as well, so they're still a part of the programme with me, which is fantastic. We brought some new brands to the grid as well, which um some exciting brands, really exciting brands, big brands, which is fantastic. Uh can we win it in year one? I don't know. There's a lot more to winning the BTCC than just having a good car. You've got to have a good team, which we've got, you've got to have good people, which we've got, you've got to have good systems. We don't have any systems because we're a new team. So there's all of those sides of the business that we need to refine and get right. Uh, one thing I can promise sure as hell is if we've got a sniff to win it, we'll go all out to have a go. Jason has made public statements more than once, bless him, that we're gonna be on the podium at round one. So I guess we've got to do that.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

No pressure then. No pressure. Um it's gonna be an exciting season, and I'm sure you're going to relish the challenge. Dan, have a really good season. Uh, I wish that you and the whole team uh the very best. Just before we finish, as you know, we do have a little bit of fun at this time of the year uh with a couple of quiz questions which had nothing to do with being a racing driver. Fantastic. How is your knowledge of the highway code? It's it's probably average to poor. Okay, let's let's give it a go then. Uh one, two, or three. Three. Uh so you've stopped in an emergency uh refuge area on the highway. But before you rejoin the carriageway, what must you do according to Rule 278 of the highway code? Put on your hazard lights, put on your headlights, use the emergency phone, or uh wave your arm out of the window to indicate you're coming back onto the highway. I would imagine you put on your hazard lights. You would imagine wrong. You're supposed to use the emergency phone to speak to the operator and seek advice about the safest way to rejoin the carriageway. Right, well, there you go. So I'll give you one more chance. One, two, one or two. Choose one or two. One. One forty miles per hour, stopping distance. You can either give it me in metres, feet, or car length. Thirty-five metres. You're very, very close. 36 metres. I'll give you that. Thank you. I'm pleased to say, Mr. Robot, you've got one out of two. Fantastic. 50%. 50%, you'll take that. Oh, well, yeah, I'll take that tomorrow. Have a good season. Thank you.