THE master will be taking on his apprentices this weekend as Scorton driver Max Coates heads to Croft Circuit for the North Yorkshire venue’s flagship event of the season.

Coates is spending this year competing in the JCW class of the Mini Challenge Trophy, but the series is not part of the support programme for this weekend’s round of the British Touring Car Championship at Croft.

Instead, the Mini Challenge Trophy, which is a feeder event for the JCW class, is taking centre stage, and Coates has bagged a drive with the same Graves Motorsport team that runs his JCW car.

The only problem is that as well as driving for the Graves team, Coates coaches the six young drivers who regularly compete in the Trophy.

And while they might respect his opinions given his extensive experience across a broad range of motorsport disciplines, this weekend they will be determined to beat him to the chequered flag.

“I’m acutely aware that I’ve got a massive target on my back,” joked Coates, who has enjoyed considerable success at Croft in the past, claiming multiple wins in the Renault Clio Cup and a podium finish in the JCWs last season. “I coach our Mini Challenge trophy drivers, and they’ve been absolutely brilliant form this year.

“They’ve won five of the six races so far, and are the only team to have recorded a one-two-three and closed out the podium. I’ve worked with them at the two meetings where they’ve been racing and we’ve also had ten or 12 test days together. I know how good they are – and I know they’re out to get me.”

Having spent the season in a JCW car, Coates only stepped into the Mini Cooper S he will be driving this weekend for the first time on Thursday. Whereas the JCWs are the must up-to-date Minis in manufacture, the cars in the Trophy can be 20 years old, meaning Coates will have to adapt his driving style at Croft.

“My JCW car has about 300 brake horsepower – the car I’ll be driving this weekend has about 135, so there’s a fair bit of difference.

“In essence, the JCW car has a load of power but not much grip, whereas the power on these cars is a lot lower but the grip is a lot better. That just means you have to adjust the way you drive slightly.

“There’s a few technical differences I need to make, but I’m looking forward to it. I wanted to get a drive at Croft, and this gives me the chance to enjoy myself with the team and some of the sponsors knowing the results won’t make or break my season.”

The ‘real business’ resumes when the next three rounds of the JCW series are staged at Knockhill in late July, with Coates currently sitting in fifth position in the Championship table after posting two podium finishes.

“We’re in the mix,” said the North Yorkshireman. “Obviously, we’d like to be a little bit higher, but the season isn’t won after eight rounds of 20 and it would be fairly unusual for someone to lead right the way through.

“The top two are starting to open up a little bit of a gap, and we certainly wouldn’t want that to get much wider, but we’re only really one strong weekend away from being right back where we want to be.

“I started the season wanting to finish it as champion, and we’re certainly still close enough for that to be a realistic proposition.”

The Mini Challenge Trophy is one of the main support series for the BTCC, with Croft staging three rounds of the Touring Car Championship over the course of the weekend.