Renault UK Clio Cup championship leader Ant Whorton-Eales has switched to series newcomers Maximum Motorsport ahead of the final four meetings of the season.
Whorton-Eales has led the championship since winning the opening race of the season with SV Racing, with a further win at Donington Park being part of eight podium finishes in the opening ten races.
Despite that success, the 21 year old has changed teams part-way through his fourth Clio Cup campaign, joining front-running VW Cup outfit Maximum Motorsport as they enter the Clio’s for the first time.
The outfit is run by Stewart Lines, who currently competes in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in a Houseman Racing Toyota Avensis, and he sees the Clio’s as a natural progression for the squad.
Lines said: “To come into a championship as high-profile as the Clio Cup with a driver with Ant’s profile is a very exciting opportunity for us. I certainly feel we have the infrastructure to do the job for him.
“It’s a very definite step up for Maximum Motorsport as we have every intention of being in the Clio Cup in 2016 and the future – just as we do the BTCC. We very much see Ant as an integral part of all that.”
Despite the change in team, Whorton-Eales is confident of maintaining his championship challenge, starting this weekend in Rounds Eleven and Twelve at Knockhill in Scotland, a circuit he finished on the podium at last season.
Whorton-Eales added: “Stewart is a long-time friend and his race trucks are actually housed at my family’s business. He has ambitions for bigger things for his team – including the Clio Cup – in 2015 and has asked me to be involved so now is the time to go for it.
“I’d like to thank SV Racing for all their support in in 2015 but now it’s time for a change. I’m keeping my number one mechanic from SVR and I’m seriously impressed with the set-up at Maximum. I am very confident we will be just as competitive as in the first half of the season – if not more so.”
