Power Maxed Racing heads into the forthcoming Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship campaign off the back of arguably its strongest season to-date, with the team deep in talks to secure its driver line-up for 2019.
Team Principal Adam Weaver intimated at Autosport International that a number of drivers are currently in discussions with the outfit, including 2018's pairing of Josh Cook and Senna Proctor, who are both looking to retain their respective PMR drives for the year ahead.
"We’ve got a lot of interest as we are fundamentally a strong team," said Weaver. "Both of the drivers that drove for us last year are talking to us about retaining those seats.
"They want to stay and we’re trying to make it work between their own sponsors and within our respective budgets. Sponsors change over the course of the off-season. Drivers gain and lose them, as do teams, so it becomes a very intricate balancing act. If we retained both drivers, they would both be heading into a third campaign with Power Maxed Racing. The knowledge that we’ve got of them and that they’ve got with us can’t be a bad thing. It also sends out the message that we’re a team that people want to stay with.
"We aim to get everything sewn up as quickly as possible but things move quickly and things change. That said, we’re looking like we could start to get things in place in the coming days, possibly the back end of next week. We aim to be out testing in February."
Weaver's target for 2019 is to head into the final race weekend in contention for the Drivers' championship, as per PMR's five-year plan.
"It was always the aim for us to have a season as good as the last one was for us," continued Weaver. "We came into the BTCC with a five-year plan and the plan was to be at least in serious contention for the championship by the end of that timescale. Our fifth year is this coming year.
"Our aim for 2018 was to win races, get lots of podiums and challenge for the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles, which we did do. We actually set ourselves a target of finishing sixth or above in the Drivers’ standings and Josh (Cook) did that, too.
"We’re right on target. I really want to make sure that we’ve got drivers on-board in the car capable of meeting that aim of a title in the fifth year. I want to be in contention heading to the final race weekend. As long as we have a chance to win the Drivers’ title at that point, I’ll be happy."
The team consistently battled right at the sharp end of the grid last season, notching multiple race wins and a number of podium finishes, a source of great pride for Weaver given the level of competition in Britain's foremost motorsport series.
"The BTCC's ridiculously tough," added Weaver. "It’s so competitive that every little thing matters. It would amaze people how much work is done on these cars between race meetings. They’re stripped down to literally the seat and the wiring looms.
"Every single component is changed well before life tolerances are reached, or put back together to go racing. The work drivers have to do in terms of preparation and ours, too, is just astronomical. You wouldn’t think as a race team that we’re experienced outdoor caterers but we are – we run a fine dining service on a Sunday for 100 guests. There’s so much going on on-track and off it.
"I genuinely believe that the top teams of old – West Surrey Racing, Team Dynamics – people like that would recognise us as part of their club. That’s something that means a lot to me. To have praise and recognition as very serious competitors from the likes of those teams is just brilliant."
