Double delight for Airwaves Racing at Silverstone

Airwaves Racing shone at the ‘home of British motorsport’ this weekend (September 28/29) with a stunning set of six top ten results and two highly celebrated podium finishes during round 9 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone’s national circuit.

Fielding a three car squad; the Airwaves Racing trio of Mountune-powered Ford Focus ST’s went all out during Sunday’s first race with Aron and Mat taking full advantage of an early safety car appearance to move up in the field; managing to secure P8 and P9 respectively and two solid grid starts for race 2. Having been troubled with mechanical issues during Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions, Tom had a big ask to work his way from the back of the grid but put in a sterling effort making up eight places to cross the line in P15.

The second race of the day started in dramatic fashion with all three Airwaves Racing NGTC’s caught up in opening lap incidents. Whilst Aron and Mat managed to survive relatively unscathed, unfortunately the same could not be said for Tom after his Focus took a heavy shunt just two corners in. An innocent victim; Tom was caught on the receiving end of a multi-car melee that left the #6 NGTC with heavy suspension and body damage; forcing him into the pits and out of action for the remainder of the race.

Following the restart, Aron put in a heroic drive for the remaining laps, systematically picking off the front runners to claim the first piece of silverware of the weekend for the team and a stunning P3 finish. Mat battled hard throughout the race; entertaining the crowds with a captivating on track battle with Matt Neal during the closing laps. However an intermittent boost issue on the #7 Focus halted his progress through the field; and despite looking odds on for a top five finish initially, the Airwaves man did well keep pace with the front running pack to finish in P10 and collect a fourth top ten finish of the weekend for the team.

The reversed grid draw saw Aron in P4 and Mat in P10 for the final race of the day, and both drivers made a solid start off the line with Mat working his way up into P8 by the first corner. A tussle between front runners Neal and Tordoff offered Aron the perfect opportunity to strike and the young Irishman took full advantage to steal into P2. An intense race ensued as Aron defended hard against the following pack to maintain his position as both Mat and Tom made their own ambitious charges through the field claiming P4 and P13 finishes respectively; amassing the sixth top ten finish and second podium visit of the weekend for Airwaves Racing.

The weekend’s successes have further boosted Airwaves Racing’s championship standings heading into the final round of the 2013 season with Mat, Aron and Tom now sitting in fourth, fifth and seventh in the Independents standings. The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship now takes a two week break before reconvening at the Motorbase Performance squad’s home circuit, Brands Hatch for the 2013 season finale on October 12/13.

Airwaves Racing Team Manager Oly Collins: “That was a Fantastic end to the weekend for Airwaves Racing. The race 2 and 3 results were a great reflection of the whole team’s performance this weekend. Aron in particular has been outstanding today and fully deserved his two podiums.

“So, we’re really looking forward to heading Brands in two weeks’ time now.”

Airwaves Racing driver #8 Aron Smith: “The best weekend of my career! I owe it all to everyone at Airwaves racing; I’m the same driver I am every other weekend and this weekend the car was absolutely fantastic.

“Our package is one to beat now going to Brands - we can go to our home circuit full of confidence, and I’m quite optimistic about what we can do.”

Airwaves Racing driver #7 Mat Jackson : “A positive weekend for the team as a whole. We’ve had a lot of contact which had set us back in all three races, but we managed to salvage a good result in the last race.

“It’s a great result for everyone at Airwaves Racing to be in the mix and on the podium again after Rockingham’s successes.

Airwaves Racing driver #6 Tom Onslow-Cole: “This weekend has been a nightmare to be honest; with lots of problems. It’s always going to be a gamble coming somewhere to try impress and do a good job with only three rounds, but what’s frustrating is that we’re actually very quick. I feel comfortable in the car and really happy in the team but we just don’t seem to be rolling the die our way.

“Hopefully we’ve got all the bad luck out of the way now and we’ll have a storming Brands Hatch.”

Airwaves Racing