Albatec Racing and the National Centre for Motorsport Engineering (NCME) have today announced a partnership with one of the UK’s leading logistics and supply chain organisations, Eddie Stobart for their 2018 rallycross campaign. The Albatec NCME partnered by Eddie Stobart Peugeot 208 RX Supercar will be driven by triple British Rally Champion Mark Higgins in the 2018 Toyo Tires MSA British Rallycross Championship which roars into life at Silverstone, Northamptonshire this weekend (17 March).
The second Motis, Rock Oil and Teng Tools-supported Albatec entry will be driven by multiple race winner, and double British RX vice-champion Andy Scott after a two-year absence from the domestic series. The event marks a first appearance for Mark in Supercars, following his debut rallycross outing in RX150 in 2009, and for Andy heralds a return to the series he so narrowly missed out on winning in 2015.
Andy has conducted a significant test and development programme over the winter months in preparation for the season ahead. Today (Wednesday) both Mark and Andy had their first combined test in the striking newly-liveried cars ahead of the season-opening event on Saturday.
Although the pair of Peugeot 208s may look virtually identical from the outside, there are some differences between them. As part of the Albatec NCME collaborative partnership, Mark’s #34 2017-specification 208 has been prepared at NCME’s University of Bolton workshops by the students studying Automotive Performance Engineering, while Andy’s #126 car is to 2018 specification.
This weekend the partnership between Albatec and NCME will see eleven students attend the event as part of the team, where they will join the Albatec Racing engineers working on Mark’s car, providing the students with an unrivalled hand-on experience.
The British Rallycross Championship has gained in momentum over the past few years, thanks in no small part to the increasing popularity of rallycross worldwide. With a bumper grid of near-on 600bhp Supercars this weekend, Mark and Andy join the other drives competing for the first time on the brand new, purpose-built rallycross track, which then hosts the UK round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, SpeedMachine, in late May.
Joining Mark and Andy in the Supercar entry this weekend are four drivers from World RX; Sebastien Loeb, Timmy Hansen, Guerlain Chicherit and Andreas Bakkerud, adding depth to the already strong field. Series regulars also gunning for glory include Kevin Procter, Julian Godfrey and Ollie O’Donovan.
Track action at Silverstone begins with free practice from 09.30 on Saturday morning, followed by the qualifying races, semi-finals and all-important final later that day.
Andy Scott, Team Principal and driver Albatec Racing #126:
“I’m very pleased to be competing back in the UK and supporting the British Rallycross Championship, which has improved significantly in the two years I’ve been absent. I’m also excited to be partnering with Mark Higgins and all our partners, and especially pleased to welcome on board Eddie Stobart Logistics. It looks like being a fantastic year for British RX which has grown on the back of increased rallycross globally.
“From a team perspective, our partnership with the NCME is also something I’m very excited about. The students at the University of Bolton have been engineering Mark’s car since January, and this weekend will learn how to deal with the challenges of events as a team member.”
Dr. Mark Busfield, Director, National Centre for Motorsport Engineering:
“Today is a very exciting opportunity to launch the project properly, with a sponsor and a brand association with Eddie Stobart. This is a new chapter for us in a championship that is fast emerging. Having a brand association with someone like Eddie Stobart the logistics chain worldwide and what they’re doing, is a fantastic opportunity which is really exciting, and technically ground-breaking stuff.
“We’re very excited to be embarking on our first weekend of the year on Saturday. The big difference with rallycross is that the homologation of the car, that’s to say the technical regulations, while they are strict and must be adhered to, gives our young engineers here with us today the opportunity to have an involvement, to try and improve the performance of the car, understand its problems, and obviously rectify them. We are growing the engineers today, for tomorrow.”
Mark Higgins, Albatec Racing driver #34:
“It’s fantastic to be back in Eddie Stobart colours after such a successful relationship, winning two British championships together 12 years ago. This weekend will be the first time that I get to drive the car on gravel surface, and indeed a rallycross track, but the shakedown test this afternoon went very well on tarmac.
“I’m very excited about our first event together, and the opportunity to race on a rallycross circuit with other cars, and no co-driver this time!! There is naturally a lot to learn at the weekend, but I have the support of a great team and their years of experience. The entry is amazing, hopefully we can grab some good points to start the season.”
Angelina Miley, HR Director, Eddie Stobart Logistics:
“We’re really pleased to be partnering with Albatec and the National Centre for Motorsport, part of the University of Bolton, which aims to provide career development opportunities for the next generation of motorsport engineers, and we look forward to supporting the team in this year’s rallycross campaign.”
