INTERVIEW: Chris Pollard, Eclipse Motorsport

In the first of an occasional series of interviews, I caught up with co-owner of Eclipse Motorsport, Chris Pollard, to see what he thought of his 2007 season.

"Diabolical!" was his wholly understandable reply. Let's face it, for a team used to endurance race wins, last season was the year when the wheels came off - literally. He ranks their Snetterton race as their most memorable; given that they lead for half of it before kissing goodbye to the right rear wheel at speed it was also fairly memorable for all who were there or saw the footage.

Chris thought that Silverstone suited the team best ansd was the team's season highlight - as their class podium place and 5th overall in the Britcar 24 hour race proved. The Mosler's suitability for endurance racing is something that attracted him to racing the Mosler initially, saying "it's an ideal car for distance racing.. it remains an extremely attractive, exciting racing car".

But it was an uneven season to say the least. Equalisation and ongoing homologation issues dogged the marque, and Eclipse certainly suffered. Chris was also clearly unhappy with the performances of the Cole brothers, "inexperienced drivers who were ill-matched for pace and who had wildly disparate driving styles".

Certainly a frustrating season all round for Chris, then. "It'd probably have been cheaper, more successful and far more enjoyable if John (Griffiths, co-owner) and I had simply driven the car ourselves", he commented.

I'm keen to ask drivers and owners what they'd change about the Mosler if they could. "Unsure,", said Chris. I get the feeling that he'd have liked to see the car developed as a full-on GT2 racer, properly homologated. Given that Eclipse had early success in endurance racing, I guess Chris could see the potential in the car and was keen on racing it on the international stage.

But that wasn't to be. The car sported a 'For Sale or Rent' placard when it was displayed at the recent Autosport International show and the Mosler story is over for Eclipse.






















Photos top and middle (c) dailysportscar.com;
bottom (c) Simon H Johnson