Motorbase Performance bosses hope to win their first drivers’ title in the British Touring Car Championship this season – but rate double champion Colin Turkington as their biggest threat.

The Wrotham-based squad, who will be sponsored by Shredded Wheat this year, will run multiple race winner Mat Jackson, former Honda driver Martin Depper and newcomer Luke Davenport in the Ford Focus.

Team owner David Bartrum hopes to claim his maiden drivers’ title with Jackson but thinks works BMW driver Turkington – the 2009 and 2014 champion – will take some beating.

“The biggest threat will be Colin Turkington, I think he will be exceptional at BMW,” Meopham-based Bartrum said.

“We won two independent titles last year but that is not what we are really there for – we are going for the holy grail of the drivers’ title.

“I think it will be a really interesting year and I am sure there will be many people in with a chance of the title come the end of the season.”

The squad secured their first independent teams’ trophy last season, but Jackson, 35, missed out on the drivers’ title by 16 points in his Ford Focus ST.

They will start their season at Brands Hatch this weekend, taking on five manufacturer-backed teams.

Northern Irishman Turkington, 34, will handle a West Surrey Racing-prepared BMW 125i M Sport, rejoining the team that carried him to his two BTCC titles.

“It was a fantastic season last year – the best one for Motorbase – and the aim again is to win the overall title,” team manager Oly Collins said.

“Consistency and reliability will be key this year – that has always been the case in this championship but this year it is paramount as most of the backmarkers from last year have disappeared and have been replaced by really good drivers.

“We wanted to win it outright in 2016 and we are going for the same this year.”

HILL AT TEAM HARD

Goudhurt’s Jake Hill, 23, will enter his second full BTCC campaign at Brands Hatch this weekend.

Hill – who had only competed in one-off outings before his 2016 campaign – will race a Team HARD Racing-run Volkswagen CC.

He regularly challenged the frontrunners in an aging Toyota Avensis last season, scoring a career-high fifth-place finish at Silverstone.

“My target is to win a race, simple as that, I know I have got it in me,” Hill said.

The first three rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship will be held at Brands Hatch on Sunday. Tickets cost £34 on the gate, with under-13s going free. Visit www.brandshatch.co.uk for details.