2006 SUMMARY

A Year Of Development For Marlin
Some of you will have noticed we were very busy with development on the 5EXi last year, -  especially on the racing front and it must have been well worth it, - as the specialist sportscar magazines have been pushing out glowing reviews!

As a result of racing development, many slight changes have also now been incorporated into the latest road going 5EXi's, which include a new rear number plate holder with lights and under body rear diffuser. Other progress with this model - directly attributed to our on track experience, has meant that all early handling glitches have now been totally ironed out - as can be testified by the magazine test reports.

In fact the race and road car is now so well sorted that no more changes are planned for this season.  …And the great news is, due to our pragmatic approach to R&D, it is also possible to retrofit many of these changes to earlier 5EXi's, - so all can benefit who wish to do so.

Our personal racing season didn't bode as well as we had hoped for - and for many familiar reasons: Due to work commitments, shows and supporting track days, we didn't manage to get our own race car completed - with the new development work - to well after the season had started.

However when we did finally turn up the car was performing fabulously - testified by setting 3rd fastest lap of the day at Silverstone. Sadly various racing incidents throughout the remaining season prevented podium finishes. In Mark Matthews own words (Marlin's co-director and racing driver), "Unfortunately I seemed to have done the 'Crash test dummy' bit last year, but at least I walked away unscathed".

In actual fact, his lack of injuries was testimony to the strength of the 5EXi, which had, through no fault of Mark's, got embroiled in other peoples mistakes twice during the season and ended up being severely damaged both times.

The good news is that not only did the 5EXi prove very practical to repair after these major shunts, it also totally protected the driver from any injury at all - both times!

Not having budgeted factory time to facilitate major repairs to our own car, - as well as proceed with development work, caused Mark to miss a few other races during the year, but as they say 'That’s racing for you!'.

Although the car itself will not undergo any changes this season as such, we are developing more exciting engine fitments for the 5EXi throughout the year. Details of which will be posted in a later press release.