2008 Team Sponsors 

Team Members

Paul

Malcolm

Dan

Jacques

GO MOTORSPORT

LATEST NEWS - TUESDAY 13th MAY

PMT Motorsport driver Paul Trowbridge took a brace of podium finishes and a ‘Driver of the Day’ award at a (mostly) warm and sunny Pembrey over the weekend. With Malcolm having to miss the weekend, Paul, Dan and Jacques arrived early on a cloudy and damp Saturday morning for a 9.30 qualifying session and elected to take the safe option of wet tyres, which proved to be the best choice as the track was also doused with a lot of oil from one of the Mini Challenge cars in the previous session. With several other of the 17 runners this weekend struggling for grip, Paul was able to slide the Ginetta G20 around to set the 6th fastest time and to line up for the first race ahead of all the other class-B runners apart from debutant Nick Jones in his full-spec 1998cc Renault Clio Cup car.

Ginetta/Honda Sandwhich (photo by Jacques Wood)

By race time at 3pm the weather had returned to the bright, sunny – an increasingly warm – conditions of the previous week, but from the rolling start Paul lost out to class-B rival Mark Nicolson in his Honda Integra Type R , the Nissan Primera ‘Supertourer’ of Nigel Bowen and Michael Wright’s Golf VR6 to cross the line at the end of the first lap in 9th place overall. Paul quickly re-passed the Golf and set about Mark’s Honda, and after all-but equalling his personal best lap of Pembrey of 1m 6.612 on the sixth lap, Paul finally passed Mark for 2nd in class and 7th overall on lap seven, and then after a series of quick laps went on to record a new personal best for the Welsh circuit of 1m 6.523s on the 10th lap of the 16 completed. With eight laps of the race completed in the 1m 6s range, the team was delighted with the result and Paul was also awarded the ‘Driver of the Day’ by the WRDA for the improvement in form from the last meeting.

Race two of the weekend was early – 9.30am - on Sunday morning and once again Paul lost out from the rolling start to cross the line in 9th overall in behind fellow class-B contender Anthony Allitt. What followed was a terrific (if somewhat frustrating for the team) race-long battle with Anthony, the two cars never separated by more than half-a-second across the line as the two drivers battled for position around the lap, the 1800cc Ginetta’s superior brakes and handling into and through the corners, compromised by the 1998cc Honda Civic Type R’s traction and torque on the exit. It was a fascinating dual and at the flag both drivers congratulated each other on a fantastic, clean (not once did the cars touch) dice. Paul’s lap times suffered as a consequence with a best of only 1m 8.346s and the two drivers were placed 4th and 5th in class behind Nick’s Clio, Mark’s Integra and Pembrey race-school instructor Rhodri Jenkins’ in his Civic Type R who had started from the back after missing Saturday’s fun and had been able to take slip past Paul and Anthony when one of the faster ex-BTCC touring cars had come up to lap them. Anthony was awarded ‘Driver of the Day’ for his very effective and clean defence of his place for the whole race, and both drivers were congratulated by several of the track marshals at the circuit who seemed to enjoy the dice.

For race three Paul would start 10th on the grid, the team opting to try out their new(ish) full-width front spoiler/splitter to ascertain its effectiveness in race conditions. Whether the splitter helped or whether it was simply Paul’s determination not to lose out for a third time from the rolling start (Paul and the team were in a very small minority to oppose the change from standing to rolling starts for this meeting) the nimble G20 hung on around the outside of Hatchets Hairpin and the following right-hander at Spitfires to pick up early places and cross the line in 8th place, immediately in a three-way battle for second in class-B after Nick once again established himself ahead of the rest in what would be fourth place overall and a third straight class win. In the meantime Paul managed to re-pass Rhodri on the second lap and then slipped past Mark’s Integra to put himself second-in-class and sixth overall on lap three, only to be re-passed by Rhodri’s Civic on lap five. Despite his best efforts, Paul could not get close enough to mount another challenge to the local-man’s place but was satisfied with third-in-class and a fastest lap only 0.271s slower than the Clio and 0.076 than the Civic Type R on a track that seemed slower with the build-up of heat and rubber.

The team now has a break from competition until the end of June when battle will be re-joined in South Wales for rounds seven, eight and nine of the championship in which Paul now lies in 9th place overall and 5th in class B.

For a full calendar go to our 'Race Calendar'page