Zircotec confirms technical partnership in the British Touring Car Championship
April 25, 2024
Abingdon, UK, 23 April. Thermal management specialist, Zircotec, will use data gathered in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) to support its ongoing heat shielding and ceramic coating R&D programme during 2024.
The Abingdon-based company has today confirmed a technical partnership with Power Maxed Racing for the new racing season which kicks off at Donington Park this weekend (27-28 April). As part of the collaboration, Zircotec engineers will be trackside at selected tests and races to ensure the Independents' Trophy team is maximising its thermal management potential.
Zircotec's credentials in thermal management are unrivalled. It's a global leader in the supply of next-generation heat shielding and ceramic coating products into top-flight motorsport and counts Formula One, World Rally Championship, World Endurance Championship and World Rallycross Championship teams among its satisfied customers.
Zircotec engineers will work with their counterparts at Power Maxed Racing during 2024 to develop and implement thermal management solutions that improve the performance of the team’s cars and drivers.
Power Maxed Racing Technical Director, Martin Broadhurst, said: "We're racing in a premium UK championship and every nanosecond you can find equates to a better lap time and being further up the grid. Working with Zircotec enables us to effectively address the heat management challenges that are typical in a BTCC car – and maximise our performance.
"Under bonnet and air charge temperatures are super important on today's grid. Being able to contain heat, move it out of the engine bay, stop it from reaching the intercooler, and prevent it from soaking into the cockpit, are the things Zircotec is helping us to manage with first-rate heat shielding and ceramic coating products.
"As a Technical Director, I wouldn't go anywhere else other than to Zircotec for thermal management advice. Their products and knowledge are second to none."
Power Maxed Racing will run at least two Vauxhall Astras built to the BTCC's NGTC regulations in 2024, with the squad aiming to secure the coveted Jack Sears Trophy for the fourth consecutive season.
The cars will break cover at the championship's first official Brands Hatch test on 3 April, and Zircotec engineers will be trackside to oversee the cars' thermal performance.
"This season we're embarking on a trackside engineering collaboration with the team and both the quantitative and qualitative results we take away will be fed into our extensive R&D programme," Zircotec Engineering Manager, Dominic Graham, explained.
"We've already manufactured some bespoke heat shielding and ceramic coating parts at our technical centre in Abingdon and we'll be gathering measurements and thermal imaging data during the first test to see exactly what improvement they're making to the Power Maxed cars and drivers."
The Power Maxed Racing cars will all carry Zircotec branding during the 2024 season, with races due to be shown live on terrestrial television via the ITV4 channel.
To discover more about Zircotec’s thermal management solutions for teams and drivers competing at all levels on the motorsport pyramid, visit www.zircotec.com/motorsport
ENDS
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About Zircotec
Zircotec is a trusted provider of heat management expertise and ultra-high performance product solutions to customers across the world.
Based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the company’s origins can be traced back to the Atomic Energy Authority where first-generation plasma-sprayed coatings were developed for use in the nuclear industry.
Today, Zircotec’s ceramic coating and heat shielding technologies are the number one choice for customers in the automotive, industrial and aftermarket sectors.
Zircotec products are also specified by teams facing thermal management challenges in elite motorsport categories including Formula One, the World Rally Championship, the World Endurance Championship, INDYCAR and Formula E.