sport and news: Motorsports: Mercedes A-Class gears up to tackle British Touring Car Championship [w/video]

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Motorsports: Mercedes A-Class gears up to tackle British Touring Car Championship [w/video]

Filed under: Videos, Hatchback, Mercedes-Benz, UK, Racing

Most of the Mercedes-Benz lineup is based on rear-drive architecture that would make for great racing platforms. That's how you end up with the C-Class in DTM and Superstars, the E-Class in V8 Supercars and the SLS AMG in GT3, to name just a few. But don't think that Benz's new front-drive platform won't make the transition to racing.

Mercedes itself, after all, showed a CLA-based racer at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, but British outfit Ciceley Racing is hitting the racetrack on its own with this A-Class racer. Set to tackle the British Touring Car Championship this season, the new A-Class racer may not be quite ready to hit Silverstone and Brands Hatch just yet, but the team has already revealed what it will look like, complete with racing livery and WIX Racing sponsorship.

The actual racer is being developed to meet the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) regulations that have opened up the BTCC grid to more (and more diverse) competitors in the last few seasons than ever before in the series' long history. Expect the finished version, as a result, to feature a 2.0-liter turbo four with upwards of 300 horsepower, driving the front wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox with AP Racing brakes and clutch, Cosworth racing ECU, adjustable suspension, 18-inch center-lock alloys and an aggressive aero kit.

Testing kicks off next week before former Ginetta GT champion Adam Morgan drives it in the season opener at Brands Hatch at the end of March, marking the first time Mercedes will be present on the BTCC grid since the 1980s. In the meantime you can scope out the high-resolution images in the gallery above and the video clip and press release below for more.