With a name like Angry Spider Racing you’d be right in thinking this BTRDA Championship rallycross team is a force to be reckoned with. Founded in 2011, the team originally raced a Toyota Paseo in the championship but switched to a Porsche Boxster with an Audi RS4 V6 twin turbo engine in 2020 driven by relative newcomer to the circuit, Michelle Swallow, who only began her racing career last year.
Although this year’s national BTRDA Rallycross Championship RX series in the UK is currently postponed due to COVID-19, it is hoped the races at Lydden Hill in Kent and Knockhill in Scotland will go ahead later in the year. In preparation, the Angry Spider Racing team has embarked on creating a bold new livery in bright pink for its racing car and recovery truck.
Michelle’s teammate Hannah Bickerstaff makes all the composite panels inhouse and preparation is vital. Last year, Michelle approached Mirka UK to sponsor the car, as she considers the Mirka range of sanding tools and abrasives to be market leading. With Mirka’s support, she is able to compete in all the rounds the BTRDA has to offer.
Michelle explains: “I thought it would be a brilliant opportunity to get in touch with Mirka and see if the company wanted to jump on board. It has supplied its DEROS sander and Abranet range of abrasives to prep my car and race truck, and they are the best products I have ever used. I really can’t fault them.”
While the team has mainly been using the DEROS for sanding, it has noticed that the tool has been effective in buffing and polishing as well. It says it cuts the sanding time down by half and by using the extractor attachment the bodyshop is clean and doesn’t have a layer of dust everywhere.
In addition to prepping and painting the race car in time for the Autosport International Show earlier in the year, the team has turned a former food delivery truck into its new recovery vehicle to transport the Porsche to the events.
Michelle concludes: “The truck needed a fair amount of bodywork doing before we painted it pink to match the race car. The Mirka DEROS and Abranet abrasives did a really good job. My teammate Rob also bought an old Austin Maestro and the DEROS brought the 36-year old paint up really well too. I would highly recommend Mirka to anyone.”