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Horton Racing NewsNews Archive - 2006 : 2005 : 2004 2008 Season is GO GO GO ! ! – Croft 2nd March 2008 The HortonRacing team was out on force this weekend at Croft circuit for the first race of the season and there was a new addition to the team in the form of Mark Strange in his Peugeot 205. Simon had the full intention of the plucky Metro being sold and having the Subaru ready in time for the start of the season but it is still about 6 weeks off, so fingers crossed keep your eyes peeled for its grand entrance at Pembrey, so for the first race of the season we saw a welcome return to the Metro. It has to be said that last season was not the best for the Metro so it was going to interesting to see how it would run after such a length of time in the garage and having not a lot of work concentrated on it, but Simon got the racing bug and thought he would give it a go. All three of the team would be competing with each other in each BTRDA Stockhatch event so it was going to be very interesting. For the first heat Simon and Richard shot up to the first corner tussling for position and Mark was towards the back of the grid keeping up with the best of them and did not lose his nerve at all to say this was his first competitive race. Simon and Richard continued on a great run and Richards’s car was on form and looking very quick but after a few laps it was clear there was a problem Rics car had slowed down considerably, when he came back to the pits he found that the coil lead was hanging lose so it was not getting a spark. Simon finished in third place and Mark in fifth. In heat 2 Richard managed to get his car back out but again his car was not performing as it should be due to an unknown electrical fault. Simon had an even better run and finished in 2nd place whilst Mark came 6th. It all kicked off in Heat 3 as Richard was under pressure to get a good finish to ensure that he would make the finals. Again he managed to fix the car and get it out on the grid. As the race started and all the cars got to the first corner Jason O’Donovan who was hiring Phil Chickens car rolled at the first corner and the so the race was red flagged. On the second run Richard and Carl Jones came together this time at the dreaded first corner and both him and Richard span off and so again the race was red flagged. Because Ric was involved in the red flag incident at the first corner he was unfortunately not allowed to take the re-start which was a blow for Richard as the car was performing really well. The race was again re-started and both Simon and Dave Martin were tussling for position and ran a very good and clean competitive race in which Simon by the skin of his teeth made 1st place with Dave less than a second behind him. Both Simon and Mark made it to the A Final, with Simon 2nd on the grid and Mark fifth on the grid which again was a fantastic result for his debut race. The final was fast and furious and was pretty well spaced out with Craig Brown first, Dave Martin 2nd and the final spot on the podium went to Simon in third with Mark finishing not far behind Simon in a very creditable fourth place. The teams attention now turns to the next round at Lyddem Hill in Kent on Easter Monday in which Steve hopes to make a welcome return to join alongside Richard and Mark on the stockhatch grid. 28/02/2008 : The Horton Racing team are proud to add Fine Wine Sellers as a new sponsor for 2008. Fine Wine Sellers (www.finewinesellers.co.uk) are a growing business selling wine, champagne, gifts and some spirits to the public and corporate customers. They offer a fantastic range and value for money service and can deliver to the whole of the UK Scotland and Northern Ireland. They will be supplying the Horton Racing team with lots of celebratory champagne (we hope) throughout the season. Check out their website for any of your wine, champagne or gift needs: www.finewinesellers.co.uk 28/02/2008 : 3 of Horton Racing team to compete at Croft this weekend Simon, Richard and Mark will be competing at this weekends BTRDA series, Simon will be using the trusty Metro for the last time before the new Subaru is revealed. Mark is a new member to the team, He will be racing a newly prepared 205 built by the Horton Racing Team. Richard will be using the same 205 as last year but with a fresh coat of paint and a few tweaks since last season. Stevens car is not ready to race due to work commitments but will be ready for the next Lydden event. There will be some close racing between the 3 of them and I’m sure there will be some good results. It’s been a while since Simon and Richard have raced together and will guarantee to make some interesting racing. Simons car is still currently for sale so if you’re interested please pop over for a chat for any information you may need. News and pictures will be uploaded shortly after the event. 17/01/2008 : Fresh start and a new arrival Welcome to 2008 with the hortonracing team. This year The team will again be focused around rallycross with both Simon & Richard Horton competing in the British championship and fellow team mate and sponsor Steve Rattue back at the wheel for 2008. All the drivers will be racing in both the British rallycross championship and the rallycross open championship through 2008. Richard and Steve will once again be racing in the Stockhatch class in there respective Peugeot 205’s whilst Simon will make the huge jump up to the elite Supercar class in a purpose build Subaru Impreza. The team will share there experience and resources to help make this year as successful as possible for all it’s drivers, and the hortonracing website will have more information than ever to keep you all up to date with all the results and news through out the year.
17/01/2008 : Car Updates, start of 2008
The first real piece of news is a quick update on where all the cars are up to at this point in time as of the 1st of January 2008.
07/01/2008 : Horton Racing Metro GTI FOR SALE Hortonracing prepared Rover Metro GTI stock hatch (748).
27/08/2007 : Glimmer of brighter future at Lydden. After the cold and wet Knockhill round of the BRDA championship, the sunshine finally appeared for round 6 of the championship at the home of British Rallycross, Lydden Hill.
19/03/07: AClass technology sponsor Hortonracing. The Hortonracing team is proud to add Aclass Technology as a new sponsor for 2007. Aclass technology (http://www.aclasstechnology.co.uk) is a leading provider of Computer hardware solutions to the education market and also provides innovative solutions for business requirements. The team has also been provided with the latest EzPad which will allow us to turn race day notes and data, directly into a text document on the PC. This will allow us to produce race day report for the website much faster that we currently do. For details on the product, please have a look here http://www.aclasstechnology.co.uk/ezPad/index.html Metro re-shelled for 2007
Please see the gallery which will be updated regularly with pictures of both cars progress HERE New Anglesey track ahead of Schedule! The new £4 Million track at Anglesey if now under construction. The new track will be 2.1 miles long and is set to have 4 track options. The track will be 12 metres wide with a state of the art surface and 10 degree banked hairpin. As with the old track the new one will have lots of levels and steep slopes. The track is set for completion by May 2007! [fingers crossed] Roll on next year so we can give this track a go whether it be Rallycross or track day! SEASON OVERVIEW 2006 It’s been a season of highs and lows for the HortonRacing Team. The lows included damaging the car at the first corner of the first race at Anglesey and the highs being Simons first win in an A Final at Lydden Hill after three years of competing. Hopefully we have reached that point of being up there with the best of the class and proving to be a consistent front runner throughout the season. ‘The little metro’ has turned some heads this year as we finally managed to get to grips with it and push it to the limits………and sometimes beyond! ‘’I feel I have matured as a driver and with my first win has given me the confidence to go onward and upward. I always felt I was capable of achieving the podium positions but it always seemed to elude me at the last second’. This year the driving standards have been high in stockhatch and this has brought some close and very exciting racing which has resulted in a very tight championship and the final positions only being decided on the final day. The plans for 2007 are to again race in stockhatch with the metro and to aim as ever even higher. We have big plans for 2008 as long as we can get the budget and the backing …………….so watch this space! Finally Simon would just like to say a very big thank you to the HortonRacing team, everyone that has helped with the running of the rallycross championships and finally to the all important sponsors which include Castle Cement, DTS Ltd and Luno.net who have helped enormously in achieving our goals for this season and hopefully the next. Steven Rattue makes his debut at Croft RSS Sunday 29th of October was the last race of the series and so was a perfect opportunity for Steve to make his debut. After just 3 practice laps it was straight into qualifying. Steven only managed to qualify 5.09 seconds behind poll. Sunday arrived and Steve was straight into his first Stock Hatch race; lots of his family and friends came to Croft to support him including Simon who has helped to give Steve this opportunity, nerves and excitement were high. The Metro was in good condition and Steve was ready to make his debut. The racing on the day followed a ‘knock-out’ format whereby each racer had 2 races and then on the 3rd only the top 6 places would get through to further rounds. Steve appeared quite tentative on his first race taking 9th place from last when a fellow racer came off the track. After nearly missing his second race, his confidence grew slightly and he seemed much more comfortable with the track and handling the car; he still appeared to be holding back slightly but finished the race in 8th. His last certain race of the day was the most important. He went onto the track at the back of the grid. After an amazing start off the line he went from the back straight through the middle of 2 cars to gain 4th position. His more confident driving held him at 4th and 5th position in the first lap. On his second lap Steve took the first bend too quickly and the Metro began to snake and veer to the edge of the track; we all thought he would come off but somehow he managed to control and stabilize the car with only one driver over taking him, he now stood in 6th position. He took a nasty bash to the front of the car when he drove into a stack of tyres at the top bend; however he managed to hold 6th position going into his final lap; if he could stay in 6th he’d be through. He held onto 6th until the first tight corner, he went wide and Gary Yorks yellow ax came up the inside to take 6th position; Steve fought tirelessly to take 6th position back and was very close at times but unfortunately he couldn’t quite do it and came in 7th. Although he didn’t go further on the day he came a long way from second to last in his first race to 7th in his final one almost qualifying for the final races, his confidence had grown throughout the day and although he was not a winner on the day we’re sure to see brilliant things from Steve next series; he certainly made an impression. Steve will be sharing a new car with Simon and racing again when the next series starts in February. Watch in car footage Here (Google Video) FANTASTIC FINALE!! – CROFT 22ND OCTOBER 2006 Aim high was the name of the game at Croft. Simon needed to be consistent in order to maximise on points to compete in the A finals of both championships and maybe …just maybe get past Ash Simpson in the championship leader board. Simon had the point’s advantage but with the dropped score it would favour Ash. The day started well with a first place in the MSA Stockhatch and set the pace for the rest of the day as Simon comments ‘’I had to drive every heat like it was a final; the pressure throughout the day was intense and provided some very enjoyable racing. The team, sponsors, friends and family were all trackside watching and cheering which added to the pressure’’. Luckily there were no real problems with the car except for a spot of overheating which has been a fairly common problem for the car throughout this year and needs to be in check for next year. As the dust settled and the grids for the finals were announced Simon was second fastest in the MSA and fifth in the BTRDA which was a massive achievement and just showed how far he had progressed throughout the year. Both finals were intense as the team knew both Ash and Simon would be tousling for positions which may end in drama. Both drivers drove impeccably and it was a good clean race. Simon was ahead of Ash all the way till the final corner until he pushed too hard and went off the racing line allowing Ash to move through to second place. There was only a second in it as they crossed the line. In the BTRDA Simon came a respectable fourth place after another close race between a group of drivers. The whole team is chuffed to bits with both the commitment of Simon and his success over the year as he has finally made his mark into the top set of drivers. Luck Of The Irish – Mondello Park – Sunday 1st October - MSA It was the first time the HortonRacing team had visited Irish shores and we were all looking forward to a change of scenery and to see what Ireland had to offer. The circuit was fantastic and the atmosphere all day was electric. All the spectators seemed to revel in the thrills and spills of the day. Simon’s day started well in his first race as he clocked an incredible time off the line and consistently broke away from the pack and came a fantastic first place. This was a great way to start the day unlike fellow competitor Phil Chicken who sadly didn’t even make practice due to a problem with the transmission on the Saxo and could not compete for the rest of the day. Simon also did well in his next two heats coming fifth in one and second in another. He also managed to avoid causing any damage to the car even though both the circuit and the drivers were new to him. Unfortunately we did not avoid injury entirely….well not to the car anyway as Simon had a minor ‘incident’ which involved his hand and the fan in the car. The car was overheating tremendously in practice so there was obviously a problem in which he went to inspect. When Simon went to feel the air temperature being blown through the fan his hand was dragged into the fans blades causing the blade to cut his finger quite badly and required medical attention, but this fortunately did not prevent him from racing. After three events Simon was currently sitting in 9th place out of 40 cars, however there were three cars including Simons that had clocked the same points, so the question was who would be in the B or A final? Simon was in the front-middle of the B final grid knowing that he would have to work hard to secure a position in the A final. Again the metro got away from the line like a rocket but the race was not won easily as he was continually pressured from behind by the chasing pack, however he successfully held on to first place which guaranteed him a place in the A final. The back of the grid is where Simon sat for the A final with a lot of work to do. Unfortunately even after a consistent performance throughout the day it seemed that in this last race the car lacked pace, possibly because of overheating from just competing in the B Final. Simon struggled to pick up positions in this race and finished off where he began. Even though we did not achieve a podium position in Ireland the team and Simon still felt that we had achieved what we set out to do, if not more, considering this was our first time out at Mondello. Overall Simon finished third out of the British drivers on the day and currently sits in third place in the BRDA championship with just one round remaining. HORTON ON A HIGH! Getting on the podium was the aim of the day for Simon and he did just that. After three years of hard work and determination Simon finally got his hands on those elusive trophies, by coming a fantastic first place in the BTRDA Stock hatch event and a respectable third in the MSA Stock hatch. Coming first or even third in a final at Lydden Hill seemed such a long way off after the first round of heats of the day. The car was on form but Simon could not seem to get the performance from it and reel the other drivers in, which meant that he finished with poor times in the qualifying heats. The Horton Racing team were growing with disappointment as they thought that yet again we would come home without the silverware. However it was with grit and determination in the finals where Simon proved that his little Metro could keep up with the best of them. Both finals were packed with thrills and spills. In the MSA final Simon was sat seventh on the grid and held off a determined Ashley Simpson who gave Simon a run for his money to come third place overall, his first podium position. But it was the BTRDA final, the last race of the day that was the most thrilling that the Horton Racing team had seen. Simon sat fifth on the grid at the start of the BTRDA final. As the lights went out, he managed to pick his way through a start line incident which sidelined 3 of the major competitors in the class. Simon led the race from start to finish, but had to fight all the way with young Ashley Simpson and eventually won by a margin of just 0.5 seconds. The race was a good clean fight with Simon having to drive defensively and at times appear to make his Metro as wide as the track itself. The Horton racing team were ecstatic with the result and where relieved that all the hard work and effort that goes in was finally rewarded with a victory. The result was extremely popular with most of the fellow stock hatch class drivers who where keen to congratulate Simon on the result. “It’s been so long coming, it’s a massive relief to finally get a win. Every time the race day seemed to go our way we’ve been cursed with bad luck, so for once it was nice for everything to go to plan. I would really like to thank everyone who has backed, supported and believed in me over the last few years, this really was a win for everyone involved with the team.” With only 2 more events left in the calendar it’s getting very tight at the top in both the championships and so the last few races promise to be explosive in the final dash to the line. NATIONAL MOTORSPORT WEEK – 5th OF AUGUST
The Display takes place in the centre of town at the Castle Gates and the cars will be there from 9am onwards. www.nationalmotorsportweek.co.uk Bouncing around at Knockhill 30th of July 2006 Knockhill proved to be a successful day for Simon with another s Before Knockhill the car went for a quick check up at the rolling road at and in the end maxed out a fantastic . This was a fantastic result for Simon and he was all geared up for a great days racing. Thankfully the weather held at Knockhill with gorgeous blue skies at times which was good news for Simon as his car tends to do better in the dry than in the wet. The first race of the day in the MSA Stockhatch certainly highlighted the problem of the cars suspension. Simon got off to a great start but went wide at the first corner leaving Ash Simpson to pass him. On the third lap Simon lost another place to Tony Lynch and his final result was third place. On the loose Simon lost time but on the straight the car went like the clappers and certainly had some grunt about it that kept him up with the other drivers. After this race Simon tweaked the suspension to lessen the bounce. Simon had a much better result in his first heat of the BTRDA Stockhatch in which he held 1st place throughout the race. The commentator certainly noticed Simon struggling to control the car in the loose ‘you can almost sense the dread of him going into the loose’. However, as much as this rough terrain slowed the car it wasn’t enough to jeopardise Simon’s position. The times after the first heats proved just how competitive and fast the car had become as in the BTRDA Steve Heptenstall set the quickest time of 3:32:988 and Simon was second quickest at 3:34.483. Even in the MSA Simon was a respectable fifth quickest. I felt that Race 19 Heat 2 of the MSA Stockhatch was Simons best race of the day for driver ability and car performance. Simon was in third place after the first lap but then nudged into second place and held that position fantastically for the rest of the race, as the commentator put it ‘Simon was in a fine second place’. For the next few races Simon held some great positions. In race 24 Heat 2 of the BTRDA Stock Hatch Simon finished in second place and nearly pipped Dave Baines to the post but not quite. The only drawback of the day was the fact that Simon had to miss out on due to altering the suspension and it not being ready in time. After all the heats had been completed Simon made it to both A finals in the BTRDA and MSA, lying fifth on the grid in the MSA and sixth in the BTRDA. In the MSA A final Simon lay in fourth place after the first few laps but then unfortunately the race was red flagged after a horrific crash by Tina Pinder. The car was a mess but luckily she came out unscathed. It was a guess as to whether they would re-run the race as three laps had already been completed before the race was red flagged. However it was decided that it would run again and after a fighting battle in which he very nearly overtook Ash Simpson on the last lap Simon finished in fourth place, which seems to be a regular thing at the moment in the MSA championship. In the BTRDA A Final Simon did not do as well and after another hard race tousling with he finished in 7th place. The positive outcome of Knockhill was that the car was certainly quick, but it was just on those blasted loose sections of the track where the car let Simon down. The thing now is to work out what is best for Lydden Hill as a lot of power will be needed to get up that hill but too much could make the car sluggish. I am sure as ever that the car will undergo a fair bit of tweaking before the next event. We are nearly there but not quite. Blistering heat at Blyton - 2nd July 2006 Well, Blyton could not be more different to the horrendous weather that all d The heat of Blyton meant that the tractor was out on force after each heat spraying the track with water, but it could not tame the amount of dust that spewed over the cars and the spectators alike. Blyton is notorious for accidents and it certainly did not let us down as two major drivers in the championship crashed out with terminal damage to the car, being Andrew Jordan and Pat Doran. This nerved the Horton team as Simon set out to race for the day. Simon ran well in the first heat but soon got into trouble in the 2nd heat of the MSA. Tony Lynch caught the back of Simon at the first corner which left him hurtling towards the other drivers. Unfortunately it was Phil Chicken who got the brunt of Simon’s car in an unavoidable collision. Simon comment: Damage to car When looking at the times throughout the day, in Heat 3 Simon was second quickest after a great race with Kenny Hall. This really showed what the car is capable of doing. Simon made it into both A finals and came fifth overall in both championships. After four events of the current 2006 season Simon is progressing well but is still not quite there to be up there with the big boys and win a trophy. It is encouraging that the times the car is making are very quick, and who knows what may happen in the next event. Wet and wild at Anglesey 18th June 2006
In the practice Simon’s car came out on top with the quickest lap time, which was encouraging for the rest of the day knowing that the car was on form. However at the first heat Simon got into a tangle with the other drivers of the MSA Stock hatch and smashed out from the track. From the paddock the car looked an absolute mess and when the commentator mentioned ‘wheels coming off ‘the Horton pit crew thought of the worst. However Simon managed to drive the car off the track and limp it back into the pits. Simon comment: The front end of the car was wrote off which included a pierced fuel tank, damaged chassis leg and broken radiator. Thanks to various pit crews help the car was put back into some form of racing condition, which meant that we could carry on the day’s events. Luckily the car was back on track but missed the first heat of the BTRDA whilst repairs were made. In the subsequent heats the car had to run without the radiator cooling fan which was damaged in the accident. This resulted in Simon having to drive with one eye on the temperature gauge to avoid damage, which ultimately slowed the pace of the car. The wet weather was also a problem for Simon at the start line, as the smaller 13” wheels on the metro spun in the wet. This cost Simon quite a lot of grid positions off the start line. Even though Simon only made it to the B finals of both the BRDA and BTRDA the car did have pace as he was fourth fastest in the second heat, which after the accident in the morning was a good result. With gorgeous sunshine on race day! - Pembury 7th May 2006
With the dry weather playing into our hands, Simon soon got to grips with the extremelyfast but dusty circuit and surprised himself with the early pace of the car and driver. In the first heat he started from the back row of the grid but still managed to push hard for position with Julian Godfrey and Eric Fleming. The car certainly looked quick and set a fantastic time for the first run of the day, third place in heat 1 in the MSA Stock Hatch. Simon’s second race of the day, but his first for the BTRDA Stock Hatch, resulted in an excellent first place just in front of Dave Martin who also had a great days racing. After the first heats Simon ran fastest time out of all the BTRDA Stock Hatch drivers at 3.11.67 minutes. Competing in the MSA Stock Hatch for the second time this year would be no doubt more challenging for Simon especially when he is competing against the likes of Rodney Green, Julian Godfrey and Ashley Simpson. However the car did keep up with the big guns in the class “The changes we have made over the winter to the suspension really benefited us at this circuit and allowed me to maximise the performance of the car on the fast flowing loose sections’’ In heat 2 of the MSA championship Simon was hot on the heels of Julian Godfrey and proved that the car had great pace along the pit straight and finally finished second. Race 27of the BTRDA was Simons best run of the day in which he led the rest of the pack by quite a wide margin and came home first again even after a half spin at the tricky hairpin section of the circuit. Pit partner Mr Steve ‘Smooth’ Heppenstall has an uncanny way of avoiding trouble on track .Inevitably in rallycross contact happens which means cars have the odd door knocked, bumper come off or worse. However at Pembury it was unusual to see Steve incur a bit of damage to the left passenger side of his car which was the result of moving in on a gap but being shunted by another driver. It’s funny how it was the other way round last year with Steve trying to get in through Simons door. After six events in the both the BTRDA and MSA Simon had clocked up some impressive finishes of three 1st places, one 2nd, one 3rd and one 4th. This was a great result for Simon and certainly lifted the spirits of both him and the team. Could this be the day that Simon finally earns some silverware? It was no surprise that Simon was to be in both A finals of the BTRDA and the MSA. All fingers and toes were crossed for him to come out of these heats with a great result. The MSA Stock Hatch A final was the first that he ran. The Horton Racing team stood patiently on the sidelines eagerly waiting the start of what we thought would be an eventful race with Rodney Green, Julian Godfrey, Tony Lynch, Ashley Simpson and various Irish competitors in which Simon was on the back of the grid. The lights went out and the drivers were off , unfortunately Simon was extremely unlucky in the fact that the car had only run a couple of hundred metres when he was blinded by the dust on track and beached his car on the side of the track leaving the other cars speeding past him. The commentator mistakenly identified Simons car and was worrying the Horton Racing team when he mentioned about ‘drive shafts broken’ and ‘wheel falling off!”. The car from where we were standing, looked pretty odd and unbalanced making the fear of major damage even more likely and the chance of competing in the BTRDA final less and less likely. With the BTRDA final only three races away the chance of repairing even a relatively minor bit of damage would be difficult to enable Simon to get back on track. Luckily Simon drove back to the pits with hardly a scratch on the car. It was bad luck that because Simon was the cause of the red flag he was not able to rejoin the group again for the restart. This was a blow for Simon and the team after seeing him do so well throughout the day. The final race of the day for Simon, the A Final BTRDA Stock Hatch, meant that he was joined on poll position with Steve Heppenstall and Ashley Simpson. Steve Heppenstall got off to a fantastic start and maintained first position throughout the whole race. Simon did not get off to a bad start but left Ashley Simpson to get past him and was battling for third place with Gary Johnson throughout the whole race. At certain points of the track Simon was tantalisingly close to third position and was sure to pass him but Gary ran a good race and kept Simon off his tail. Simon finally finished a frustratingly fourth place. After the first two rounds of the year Simon has finished 4th overall in both championships. A fantastic result, for a fantastic days racing, just need one of those elusive trophies now! News by Rachel Leeming Fantastic Result for the first leg of 2006! - 28th April 2006
Simon and the new car were raring to go except for the ‘small’ job of bleeding the brakes which had been left to be completed on race day. This proved to be not the wisest idea as it nearly cost Simon the chance of competing, as during practice Simon could not get out on the track due to the fact that his brakes were not fully working. However thanks to his pit crew he just managed to make the last practice session and thankfully everything was working normally for the rest of the event. The most significant change to the new metro was the handling, which had been transformed by the introduction of some new high rate dampers which were originally fitted from the factory to MGF trophy spec cars. “The new suspension has made the car much more competitive by reducing some of the body roll we had last year. The new dampers however have still retained the excellent driving characteristics on the loss surface.” Commented Simon Much of the time Simon was racing with the other local competitors from the Adlington Caravan crew and was jostling for position with them in both the BRDA and BTRDA events. Other competitors that were close to the action all day included Tony Lynch, Liam Doran and Harry Sherrard with Rodney Green and Julian Godfrey being the class act in stock hatch. Competing in both the BTRDA and BRDA was tough on both driver and the car alike with some races being pretty much back to back. The only incident of the day was down to rough ground out on track which consisted of large stones that caused a few problems. One large stone pierced through the metros radiator which nearly jeopardised the next race if it was not for the fact that we had the spare from the last car and the team working quickly to replace the damaged unit. Simon however finished in 5th place overall in both the BRDA and BTRDA finals at this first event for the new metro, which has proved that the car has got what it takes and hopefully will gain even better results throughout the season. News by Rachel Leeming
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! - 6th April 2006
Simon is eager to get back out on the circuit for the first time this year, to see whether the new metro has what it takes to close the gap on the lead contenders for 2006. This will be Simons 5th visit to Lydden hill which has always been a favourite circuit for the Lancashire based driver. “It’s a long trip to Kent from the North West, but I have always had good results at this circuit and the crowds are always very enthusiastic. With this being the first event in the calendar I expect it to be a busy days racing with new competitors and new cars, along with some good old familiar faces.” The final nuts and bolts have been checked and the whole package is looking competitive for the open race on the bank holiday monday.
Welcome to 2006 - 3rd February 2006
The team wishes to thank everyone that visited the website last year and to all the spectators that came to the events and made the 2005 season a memorable one for rallycross. A big thank you must also go out to all the sponsors, spectators, competitors and marshalls alike that helped the team last year. This support helped Simon gain the prize of ‘best kept car' of last season in the MDA championship and overall 5th place in both the BTRDA and MDA championships, which made all the hard work worthwhile. This year marks a big change in the team as only Simon will be racing. However we are sure that Richard will not be able to resist being a regular at the pits and keeping a watchful eye on how Simon and other teams are doing. Richard also performed well as he claimed 2nd place in the BTRDA championship and 7th in the MDA Stockhatch championship. After the success of 2005, the 2006 season offers a fresh challenge to repeat and improve on the performances from last year.
New Car! - 3rd February 2002
Work is progressing steadily and needs to be completed by mid March as the car is due on track for its first shake down in the last week of March on the Curborough circuit. The car will then make its first competitive outing at Lydden Hill on the April Bank Holiday Monday for the opening round of the British championship. Learning from the mistakes of last year the build is more focused and care has been taken to ensure that every aspect of the new car has been looked at, in the hope that it will be the most successful car yet. Images of the work so far can be found in the gallery section.
You have to be in it to win it! - 3rd February 2002
There are a total of eight rounds for the BRDA/BTRDA championship that Simon will compete in over the same weekend. This will make it easier in the fact that there will be not so many events, but there is a danger if the car does not perform on the day points will be lost in both championships. The main goal for this year is to win as many trophies as possible. Last year Simon had a great run in the championship but failed to come home with the precious silverware on the day, but hopefully with the experience gained and a competitive car underneath him this will change in 2006.
2006 Sponsorship - 3rd February 2002
Simon will be doing ever increasing publicity with Castle Cement this year including open days and possibly other events.
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promises to be the team biggest and best year yet with a new car in the fleet and the drivers with more experience than ever before. 
llycross, and after putting a lot of time and effort into the Metro GTI after the bitterly disappointing round 4 at Pembrey. However, just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse in 2007, they did as Simon rolled the Metro GTI heavily in practice before the qualifying heats had even taken place.
had only missed one race after his long spell of illness so he was eager to get back into racing.
ope will return to the team as soon as possible.
he 2007 rallycross season. 
ton international circuit for some track time before the opening race of the season. The aim of the day was to get Steve out on track to get some high speed mileage under his belt before the opening round at Lydden, whilst Simon took the metro round on a shake down to make sure everything was ready after the rebuild. 
re-shelled metro GTI had it’s first shake down last weekend at the Blyton test circuit with both Simon Horton and new driver Steven Rattue behind the wheel.
Once again Simon Horton and team mate Steve Rattue will be using a Metro GTi to compete in the BTRDA and BRDA 2007 Rallycross season. Simon will be racing in BRDA and fellow racer Steve will be using the same car to compete in BTRDA. The old 2006 car has now been re-shelled and is awaiting the finishing touches and the spray shop. The car will be boasting the same sponsors Castle Cement, Luno.net and DTS Ltd. Horton Racing would also like to welcome back Ric Horton after a year break from Rallycross and will be racing BTRDA with Steve using a Pug 205 GTi. Both cars will be gleaming ready for the first race in April at Lydden which is one of Simons best tracks.
As part of the team’s commitment to National Motorsport week in the UK, the car will be displayed at Clitheroe town centre on Saturday the 5th of August. This is part of the Clitheroe district motor club’s display that will also include a BMW Mini Cooper rallycar from Minisport. Both vehicles will be available for all members of the public to view and fellow members of the motor club will be on hand to answer any questions about motorsport.
Anglesey proved to be a difficult circuit for Simon to master which was not helped by the torrential rain and the sheer number of cars on the grid. Having up to thirteen cars on the grid in the BRDA was a recipe for disaster. 
The fantastic weather and huge numbers of crowds made the first race of the season at Lydden Hill on the Bank Holiday Monday an enjoyable one for both spectators and drivers alike. The large entry list for the open round of the 2006 Quaife British Rallycross Championship made sure that it was going to be a long but entertaining day.
Just over 1 week to go till the opening round of the British Rallycross 2006 season at the Lydden hill circuit in Kent.
Welcome everyone to the 2006 season with www.hortonracing.co.uk. 
Simon has kept the same basic formula for 2006 which of course is the Rover Metro GTI. But it will be in the form of a brand new car that is being built from scratch but using some parts of the old car, as it is fair to say that the 2005 car had a hard life but served him well.
This year Simon will be competing in the full British BRDA championship as well as the Clubmans BTRDA championship, with possibly a few select events in the MDA series.