MUCH has been made of the VXR badge on Vauxhall’s hotter models, though the heavy, comfortable and larger Insignia flagship model is a more challenging proposition: Silverstone-based, specialist tuning company Thorney Motorsport  - which upgrades and race-prepares originally standard cars, especially Astras and Corsas - has just introduced its own Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) Insignia, ready for the local BTCC debut at Silverstone on 15-16 October. 

After a mutually beneficial partnership, lasted a few years, with Tesco Momentum 99 Racing, Thorney’s new racer is going to attract a new sponsor: for the time being, the livery shows off a slightly tongue-in-cheek theme reminiscent of Batman movies, to stay in tune (pun intended) with Thorney’s badge, the Australian lizard called Thorny Devil.

The new car is being tested this week by Thorney Motorsport’s principal and team owner John Thorne, ahead of the Silverstone debut, but was ready for snappers, media and general public to pour over last weekend (7-8 October).

A Vauxhall as well as a BMW specialist tuner for many years, Thorney Motorsport is well aware of Vauxhall dealer network’s desire for a racing model to compete in the BTCC, after Vauxhall pulled out of the race series in 2009, leaving the VXR badge, product development and tuning to focus buyers’ attention on the racing potential.

The Bat-Vaux-mobile is temporarily powered by a turbocharged TOCA engine, after Thorney Motorsport severed its existing links with Neil Brown Engineering; however, John Thorne’s plans are to develop an engine in-house as soon as possible, and certainly by 2012. The ad-hoc engine will be based on the existing SRi road-going unit. No details about the car’s weight have been released though Thorne says that ‘it is lighter than direct competitors.’

Another two Insignias are being developed for customer use, in line with Thorney Motorsport’s strategy to provide clients with racing machines, whether as rolling chassis or bare shell, as well as produce their own.
NGTC regulations have recently changed, making it easier for independent tuning companies to participate with their own vehicle, without prohibitive costs.

The plan? ‘If we get three finishes at Silverstone, we’ll be happy,’ says John Thorne. The rest, as they say, is in the lap of the sponsors.