HMS Racing is the latest British Touring Car Championship squad to join the new Touring Car Trophy.
The race-winning team will field 19-year-old racer Alex Day in the inaugural season of the new championship, which aims to bridge the gap between one-make championships and the BTCC.
Day will drive the famous ‘Sherman’ Audi A4 car in the TCT, an experience he hopes will be preparation for a BTCC drive in the future.
He already has experience with the A4, having raced the car with father Robert Day and former BTCC driver Luke Davenport in the Britcar Sprint Class this year. He finished fifth in class and is hoping to build on the experience in the TCT.
“I’m really excited to be joining such a prestigious team which has such vast experience of the touring car scene,” said Day.
“My dream is to one day race in the BTCC, so this is a fantastic opportunity to draw on the experience of HMS and learn all I can from Rob [Austin] and the team.
“TCT also provides me with the perfect stepping stone towards my long-term ambition so I know 2019 is going to be an exciting year, and I will be working as hard as I can to make it a successful year as well!
“I am very fortunate to already have experience in a British Touring Car at just 18 years of age, and I am relishing the opportunity to build on that in a more competitive environment.”
HMS Racing follows in the footsteps of BTCC rival Team Dynamics, which will also field an up and coming driver in the new championship.
The team hopes to field a second driver in the race-winning Toyota which Rob Austin drove in the BTCC.
“TCT is a great stepping stone to the BTCC and at a fraction of the cost,” said team boss Simon Belcher.
“It’s fantastic to have Alex onboard in the famous ‘Sherman’ Audi and we look forward to working with him.
“Alongside the Audi, we’re also looking at the possibility of offering our BTCC race-winning Toyota Avensis, in full current RML specification, if we can find a suitable driver.
“Although we switched to the Alfa Romeo in the BTCC in 2018, our Toyota is one of the newest BTCC cars around, having been built new in 2016. It offers a great opportunity for a driver to compete in the latest specification BTCC car, but at a significantly reduced budget in TCT.”
