CHELSFIELD driver Shaun Hollamby is all set for this weekend’s British touring car championship race at Oulton Park.
Hollamby’s AmD Milltek Racing.com team has taken full advantage of the five-week break since the previous round at Brands Hatch.
Their Volkswagen Golf was forced to miss the final race at Brands after suffering damage in race two when the wet conditions caught out Hollamby.
The Golf spun onto the grass at the fast Surtees corner, ripping off the front bumper and damaging the radiator which, in turn, caused the engine to overheat.
Hollamby said: “I should have come straight into the pits but I thought I could make the end of the race.
“It was a very big erro,r which has resulted in damage to the engine and gearbox.”
With the car back at the team’s Lakeside workshop, the engine was stripped down to reveal the full extent of the damage.
A new set of pistons would be needed and the engine was returned to Lehman in Liechtenstein for the work to be done.
“We were very lucky because it could have been much worse,” added Hollamby.
More development has been carried out on the car in-house, with the rear suspension being completely re-designed to resolve a geometry issue found when going through the data and footage from Brands Hatch.
The wiring loom, which caused problems at Rockingham earlier in the season, has been renewed and the steering column strengthened.
AmD Milltek Racing.com had to miss out on an official BTCC test at Rockingham last week, with the engine still away for repairs.
Hollamby explained: “It’s a shame we couldn't make it to Rockingham as we’ve made quite a few changes to the car, which would have been nice to test.
“But all is going to plan for Oulton Park, where we’re confident of a step forward.”
Live coverage of Sunday’s three BTCC races at Oulton Park will be shown on ITV4.
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