Scotland’s fastest young saloon car racer, Kirkcaldy’s Jonathan Adam, has sealed a last-minute deal which will see him begin the defence of his British Seat Cupra Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend. Despite dominating the championship last season, the 23-year-old Fifer has struggled – like so many talented young Scots – to raise the necessary sponsorship to go racing in 2008.But thanks to last-gasp deals with Burntisland company Briggs Marine, and Fife Seat in Glenrothes, Adam’s campaign has received the green light. “It was nip and tuck right up to the end,” the youngster, the former British Clio Cup champion, admitted. “We’ve a really tight budget for this season and because everything has been last minute I’m going into this weekend’s opening double-header with no testing.” In fact Adam, who will be reunited with the Total Control Racing team who guided him to the 2007 title, hasn’t raced in anger since the final round of last season’s Cupra Championship at Thruxton in the autumn.
“Obviously I would have liked at least a couple of days’ testing to blow the cobwebs away,” the Fifer continued, ” but though we’ll be on the back foot this weekend, at least we’re not totally new to the championship. “The championship promises to be tougher this season with a lot of the Clio Cup guys moving up to the Cupras, plus big rivals from last year’s Seat championship – like Carl Breeze – returning already having had 14 or 15 days’ testing under their belts.
“Still, at least I’ll be returning to a championship wit the No1 on the car and it will be great to go for back-to-back British titles. I’m quietly confident we can be right back on the pace, even first time out.”