News: Competing in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship and the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, 23/24 June

The mid-point in the 2007 motor racing season will take Kent-based Motorbase Performance team to the daunting Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire over the weekend of 23/24 June.

Gareth Howell and Matt Allison handle the team's SEAT Cupra Toledos in rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, while an extended team of four cars will contest rounds nine and ten of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Alongside Carrera Cup regulars Sam Hancock, Steven Kane and Andy Britnell, the team will extend to four cars with an additional entry for Gary Britnell.

The most recent race meeting at Croft was another weekend of high drama for the Motorbase team. All three Porsche racers climbed onto the podium, while the touring car racers were right in the thick of race action that had the bumper crowd on its toes.

Howell and Allison were always in midst of the fierce battling during three BTCC events, as the Motorbase SEAT Toledos once again showed their pace. Howell was one of the stars of the second race, claiming his best result to date this season with a storming fifth place, just ahead of title contender Fabrizio Giovanardi. Unfortunately, his hopes for another big finish in the final race of the day were dashed when he was inadvertently knocked out of the race by Mike Jordan's Honda.

For Allison, it was the first weekend of the season when he didn’t score BTCC points after twice being forced out as a result of contact and then hitting gearbox problems in the third race. Both drivers will be back as determined as ever to show strongly at Oulton Park, one of the finest drivers' circuits in the country.

In the Carrera Cup GB, Kane heads into a race weekend as the championship leader for the first time this season. He pulled four points ahead of Tim Harvey during the Croft weekend and will now race the Porsche at Oulton Park for the first time. Although this is yet another new challenge for Steven, he's already shown that he learns very fast and more success is extremely likely at the Cheshire track.

The Croft weekend was also a landmark event for Hancock, as he claimed his first podium finish of the season. That was fine reward for a mighty drive, showing the type of form that should ensure Sam becomes a regular visitor to the podium over the second half of the season. He's now just five points behind Michael Caine in the battle for fourth place in the overall standings.

Britnell will spearhead the team's bid for glory in the pro-am category and will head to Cheshire aiming to bring the winning run of Nigel Rice to a halt. Andy lies second in the pro-am points, but knows that he needs to start overhauling Rice to keep his title bid running strongly.

Meanwhile, Andy's elder brother Gary will join the team for the weekend to race a fourth car in his first serious race weekend since 2004. Having only had a very brief test run at Oulton Park last Friday, Gary will be concentrating on getting back into the swing of racing, but could challenge for a pro-am podium if things go well.

With an increased squad of six cars competing in five races, it will be an incredibly busy weekend for the team at Motorbase Performance. For those not able to be at Oulton Park, the full Sunday race programme will be screened on the Setanta satellite channel. In addition, the third BTCC race of the day will also be broadcast live on ITV3, along with highlights of the earlier races, starting at around 4.30pm.

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