Rising star Hector Hurst has announced his graduation to the 2011 Formula Renault BARC Championship, signing up with Scorpio Motorsport to lead their assault on the single seater series.
Hector moves into the series off the back of a successful Karting career. Competing in his first race in 2006 aged 13, he moved into the Stars of Tomorrow series in 2007, before competing in various British and European Championships since.
Despite being a consistent frontrunner, securing many pole positions and race wins, school commitments meant he was never able to complete a full campaign and win championships. He first tested a Formula Renault machine at a wet Silverstone GP circuit at the end of 2010.
Hector, from Lymington, Hampshire, commented on the transition up to Formula Renault, saying: “Changing from karts to the formula Renault was hard at first, mainly learning how to get the aerodynamics to work 100 percent by using the brake correctly into each corner. It's much simpler in a kart; you don't need to be so technical with your braking. Every time I get in the car I feel more comfortable and everything feels more natural, very soon it will feel like karting used to for me, then I can really go for it.”
“My first test after signing with Scorpio was at Rockingham, this was one of only two days with dry running so far. It was a very productive day and I now feel completely relaxed working with the team, we both take a very similar approach on how to get the most out of the car and the driver.”
The team has been impressed with Hector's progress so far, with both Scorpio's Senior Race Engineer Tony Trevor and Team Principal Jon Pettitt commenting that “the pace so far is incredible, especially considering Hector is straight out of karts”.
Despite being his first season in the series, Hurst has strong ambitions for the season ahead: “Since I first began racing I have always set one of my season goals to be the best physically prepared driver in the championship and every year since 2008 I have met this goal. This year I am stronger and fitter than ever before. I've got no school commitments to hold me back and I have set the pace at almost every test day so far. This may be my first year in cars and others may have had several years more experience but I'm here and I'm here to win.”
