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Speedworks BTCC team hires leading engineer Kingston for 2015

British Touring Car Championship squad Speedworks Motorsport is targeting race wins in 2015 after signing experienced engineer Geoff Kingston

Speedworks ran series rookie Tom Ingram to 15th in the 2014 standings, with a best result of fifth.

Ingram has not been confirmed for 2015, but team boss Christian Dick hopes Kingston's move from the race-winning BMR squad will boost Speedworks' efforts.

Kingston has experience in top-level sportscar racing and Formula 1, as well as tin-tops.

"From the outside looking in, I think Geoff has done a fantastic job this year," said Dick.

"He has a long history of success both within and beyond the BTCC.

"We are already there or thereabouts and regular contenders for the top 10, and Geoff has lots of interesting ideas that he wants to try out that will hopefully move us into a race-winning position.

"We have no intention of merely making up the numbers, but by the same token, we have a fairly limited budget, so it's all about maximising our resources and really extracting the very best out of what we have at our disposal."

Dick also confirmed the team's Toyota Avensis, one of the earliest NGTC chassis, will be revised for next season.

"We are building a new shell for the Avensis and have a lot of development work ahead and plenty of upgrades in the pipeline, with a particular focus on weight-saving, weight distribution and making the car's cooling system more efficient," added Dick.

"We will also be looking closely at the bodywork and aerodynamics and doing a lot of testing with the dampers, which were a bit of an Achilles' heel for us during the second half of this year and affected tyre life over a race distance."

Kingston, who helped BMR to two race wins in 2014, said: "I was looking for a fresh challenge and when it came up, it just seemed like the perfect fit.

"The one thing Speedworks have perhaps lacked until now is a little bit of experience, which is what I can bring to the table.

"The differences between these cars are so minimal that the skill is in finding the limit from what's available; that can be pretty elusive, but the beauty of the NGTC regulations is that everybody has the same opportunity, which means it all comes down to how you use it."

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