Subaru "not behind" despite missing BTCC test
Team BMR boss Warren Scott is adamant his squad's Subaru Levorgs will be a threat this season despite not hitting the track during the official BTCC season launch at Donington.
The new Team BMR Subaru Levorg GT
Team BMR
Team BMR unveiled a sole Subaru Levorg during Tuesday's launch, while the team's other three cars were still being prepared in the factory, with just a week and a half left before the season-opening races at Brands Hatch.
"We didn't start building these cars until mid-January," said Scott. "To say we're behind isn't quite right. We're just making sure we get the cars right."
The team is planning to fire up the cars for the first time on Wednesday, do a shakedown on Thursday and Friday and conduct its first proper test on Monday.
The main rival is Honda
Team BMR is the defending teams' champion in the series and its strongest competition is expected to come from Honda's factory squad Team Dynamics, that, for 2016, has expanded to three cars and reunited with title sponsor Halfords.
"Let's see what happens at Brands Hatch," said Scott. "We've got a lot more work [to do] than anybody else.
"I'd be surprised if we're ahead of them, but that's where we're aiming to be. It's a brand new car that hasn't run yet. We have to be realistic, but we're always be aiming for wins."
Step into the unknown
The big talking point of the 2016 pre-season is the new parts by RML, the company replacing GPRM as the supplier of the standard chassis, suspension and steering components.
As for now, Scott is not sure what impact the new spec parts will have on his team's cars.
"It's difficult to say. I've heard a lot of rumours about what's happening with the rest of the cars," Scott said.
"We haven't run them yet, but we believe that they'll be a very strong package. But it takes time – testing and understanding them. We've done the best we could on the computers. We think that we know roughly where we are."
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