Ciceley Motorsport, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship team that operates WIX Racing, has announced major changes to its engineering personnel for 2016.

Marco Calovolo will replace Paul Ridgway in heading up the engineering squad, concentrating on Adam Morgan’s Mercedes-Benz A-Class and he will be joined by Federico Turrata who will oversee Aiden Moffat’s similar car having recently been successful in the Chinese Touring Car Championship.

Calovolo has over 25 years of experience on touring car race engineering, most recently looking after James Thompson in the World Touring Car Championship and he is relishing the challenge of a new team, a new car, new circuits, a new specification of touring car and a new championship. Having worked in Formula 1 and the DTM, he was a key part of Alfa Romeo’s success in the WTCC before most recently working for the LADA project.

Paul Ridgway will leave Ciceley Motorsport to pursue an opportunity, which presents a new challenge that he just can’t resist. Ridgway joined Ciceley Motorsport in 2013 and has been a major factor not only in turning the Mercedes-Benz A-Class into a winning car but also in helping Adam Morgan make the graduation into a touring car race winner.

Ciceley Motorsport team owner Russell Morgan said: “It is with great sadness that Paul is leaving us, not only for his brilliance as an engineer but also as a close friend to both Adam and me. Paul has made it clear that he still wishes to see ‘his Merc’s’ fighting at the front and will always be on hand to assist where possible. We are, however, incredibly excited and lucky to have Marco and Federico joining us, as their pedigree is there for all to see.”

Bob Moffat of Laser Tools Racing said: “Changes like this are always inevitable in racing. We have a strong engineering team joining us and, with the introduction of the new RML components, I believe we have a strong platform to build on. I would like to thank Paul for his tremendous efforts and would like to wish him all the best in his new role.”

A handover period will begin during a three-day test for the team in Portimao in late February with both WIX Racing and Laser Tools Racing eager to form a successful relationship with their Italian engineers – and develop a taste for Espresso!