Hello to all, and welcome to the first of MB Motorsports weekly reviews. The original plan for the season was to hold a review for each event, but no-one was expecting the volume of events TORA were to hold this year, and since MB Motorsport is entering all so far it made sense to save time and combine it into one big review. But dont worry no action will be missed out. Every Friday (or Saturday if im busy ) the review will be published, full of behind the scene news and comments from the team.

Ok, to start us off we have action from the opening rounds of the Classic Endurance Series and Touring Car Masters, round two of the MINI challenge and Rally Championships, so lets get cracking!

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CER

Sunday saw the MB Motorsport Historic teams hit the tarmac of the infamous Mugello Curcuit in Italy for the opening round of the 2010 TORA Classic Endurance Series. The team arrived with a reduced team, invloving GT1's Canon MB Motorsport racelegend MB1 and Sgt JigglyMoobs. The GT2 team were out testing at the teams local curcuit, Thruxton, when the number 114 car broke a drive shaft through the back section, luckily Britracer escaped unscathed, however the car was in a worse state. This was soon followed by the second 118 car of Tezuka18 catching some debris off of Brits car causing a pucture and causing damaged to the car aswell.

The team was in discusion with a BMW spares dealer for most of the week, but had no luck and were forced to leave the Valvoline sponsored BMW's back in rainy Berkshire as the GT1 guys set for the Italian sun.

The boys arrived saturday and put in some free practice and felt good pace in a comfortabel to drive Ferrari, set against the manufacturers home curcuit, but were hinting at a lack of pace compared to the rest of the GT1 cars. This proved true, with the better developed cars of DMR Switch and lfcnick really setting the pace in qualifying, and the number 26 car suffering starter issue problems leaving the garage. Undettered though racelegend MB1 had this to day after qually:

"...well we wernt expecting too mcuh from the cars as this is very much a curcuit that requires a good setup, we just havnt quite found it this weekend. I will be discusing this with the engineers to see where we can gain some time, they already have a repair for the starter motor and it seems fine now. The Ferrari is very much a car set for the longer runs and the tires take time to reach there optimum with the car working well as they become worn... We will see how the race goes tomorrow, starting at the back should keep us out of trouble, although I am going to be takign some care as i make my way through the GT2 class.

Racelegend MB1 managed to navigate his way through the pack of GT2 cars off the line, as Sgt JigglyMoobs set off in chase of the faster Esprit and NSX. The early laps would prove vital for the team in scoring good points and keeping up with the pack. By the end of the lap three racelegend had caught strugling team mate JigglyMoobs and was allowed by his teammate as he diverted to the grass for the fourth time. The pairing matched eachother for the remainder of the race, lapping the GT2 cars, and losing time to the leaders. Eventually racelegend faultered allowing JigglyMoobs pass, and the pairing crossed the line third and fourth respectively. JigglyMoobs taking his first podium of the 2010 season, and racelegend MB1 still searching for success in the seasons early days.

After the race we caught up with the MB Motosport duo and they had this to day:

Sgt JigglyMoobs: ...well its good to get a podium so early on in the season, weve been hit by some bad luck already this year and it was good to get a result for the boys, id just like to thank racelegend for tripping up in the last few laps (laughs) I wasnt going to let you beat me that easily! It was a shame that we started so badly, my spin on the staright was an error on my own behalf and by no means the fault of the car, i had hoped we could match the leaders, but this just prooves we need to work on the car more.

racelegend MB1: Annoyed, is one word to use, i mean i shouldnt have allowed 'Moobs to get me so easily, but congratulations none the less. The car felt great it just lacked the pace of the guys upfront. Its been a fustraiting wekeend with yesterdays qualifying issues and one il be glad to forget. Colin (chaddy) should be back soon and help us develop the car further and find the time weve lost since the test day in France. Hope for more luck next time out...

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MINI Challenge

The team packed up the Ferraris and sent them back to the UK, while the crew left for America, due to meet the John Cooper Mini's sponsored by Auto Trader and GPR for the second round of the champioship at Road Atlanta on the full curcuit. Thankfully the team were met with fewer worries, most of the team turned up with the exception of Tezuka18 who has been on extended leave since his collision a week before. The team were arriving with high hopes for TM Motorsport lead driver ColinMcRae555 who has been setting fast lap times at the test day.

The teams hopes werent looking well founded with Lfcnick 7th, ColinMcRae qualifying 9th, Britracer 16th, Sgt JigglyMoobs 17th, racelegend MB1 18th. With the sister TM Motorsport team out qualifying the works team. racelegend MB1 held up 'Moobs on the final lap of qualifying after having a disrupted session anyway, both drivers failed to set true times of the pace they were on. Race one was looking to be an uphill strugle, racelegend and 'Moobs managed to get a good off the line and jumped the pack (of C lobby), putting pressure on the leaders and mainly Jenson who was keen to hold the boys behind. Britracer wasnt fairing quite so well, meanwhile up front Colin' was setting good laps and managing to make hold his own in the mid pack (front of B lobby) and Lfcnick made headway on route to a 5th overall (A lobby). 'Moobs managed to finish in 15th with racelegend following him over the line, gaining a respectable lobby win for 'Moobs. Colin' had to settle for 9th and Brit 17th.

Race two featured a reverse grid, with each lobby reversing its grid. This set most of the boys down from there finishing positions, Lfcnick who gained 2 grid slots, setting him up for a good shot at a win. Once again 'Moobs and racelegend' made good starts of the line and held the lead by lap two. Brit lost ground to the pairing and meanwhile up front Lfcnick was forced to retire for reasons yet unknown and Colin' gained ground to finish 12th overall, 'Moobs crossed the line 13th for his second lobby win of the night, whilst racelegend was gifted a 14th from Jenson who ran wide in the final corner on the last lap. Brit brought up the rear in 17th.

Race 3 saw a major shift of the lobbys with the finsihing order of race two amended to make B lobby, A lobby and C lobby, B. This presented Colin' with a prime chance to grap some well earned points at the final race of the day and the rest to put a few more on the board. As in the first two, 'Moobs and racelegend made excellent starts, and 'Moobs managing to pull out a healthy lead early on. Colin' managed to get a maiden win for MB/TM Motorsport and 'Moobs secured 7th for a third lobby win of the day. racelegend brought home the number 26 car in 12th after collecting a gravel trap towards the end. Britracer managed his best result of the night in 10th with Lfcnick not starting at all.

The event was a huge success for the teams and prooves real pace could be found in the car given time. The teams held a small press conference after the race for all the drivers. We got some views from them.

racelegend MB1: "That was a great result for the guys, congartulation to Chaddy for the race win and another stunning result, he really shows what possible with the car, escellent job! My race was pleasing. Its been nice to be with the pack and have a good ol' tustle, me and Jenson got a bit close at times and had some great battles. 'Moobs has had a great event too and im glad to see he has put the recent rumours behind him and got back to what he does best and beating me! (laughs)"

Sgt JigglyMoobs: "...WOW! what a result, still cant believe it, three lobby wins and 12th overall. The car was great and so was the racing. Had some great battles with Jenson and im really looking forward to carrying the pace onwards to round 3. I would just like to thank the team for giving me a great car and the sponsors for doing what {ever} they do."

ColinMcRae555: ""Amazing feeling to finally win a TORA race after a hard race of pushing. My car was great in the turn before the long straight and gave me a chance to pull a gap on a very fast Ianmr! I feel I have a chance of even winning this championship as I know I'm very strong in FWD cars, from my SEAT success last season. However on a bit of a downer, my crash in race two was a huge mistake and could see me fall down the championship order, which I hope wont happen. Id like to thank everyone for their kind words and also a big thank you to the MB team!"

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TRC HRC

TORA's rally championship round two was the news of Thursday, unfortunately once again, MB Motorsport were to travel light to the Eiffel Mountains of Germany. For the Eiffel Rally. Only racelegend MB1 could make it, with co-driver rallyleg-end MB2. The expected pairing of Sgt JigglyMoobs and female co-driver Pvt Tickle-me-nuts where needed to attend a sponsors dinner with a russian company Smurf-cof with there blue coloured drink. (a potential sponsorship deal maybe on the Papas tabel )

racelegend wasnt too confident for the TRC but had high aims after a good result in the HRC round 1. The TRC saw medioca results for most stages, and stage 2 was hindered by a roll on the final section causing a lot of damage to the Wrigleys sponsored EVO 9. This left the bershire driver fighting for 10th in the TRC, holding points for the team, ready for the return of his team mate in round 3.

The HRC did not meet expectaton either. racelegend failed to set good stage times and even repeated the bad fortune on stage 2 by rolling the Delta at the same point as he did in the EVO. Some pleople just dont learn! Despite this he managed a respectable time on stage 5 and secured a 6th in the HRC. Back to the drawing board for round 3.

Angered by his result and suffering from the multiple accidents, we were unable to get a comment from the team founder on the event, but wish him a speedy recovery.














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Thats all from the first edition of MB Motorsport WEEK IN REVIEW! Next week we have TCM action and build up to the GT3 opening round from Road Atlanta. Thanks for viewing.