General News

Teenager Hamilton joins BTCC grid

Matt Hamilton, still aged just 19, will become one of the youngest drivers on the grid when he makes his HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship debut at Rockingham (Sun 20 Sept).

Hamilton will race in the season’s final two rounds, at Rockingham and Brands Hatch (Sun 4 Oct) in a BTC-spec Honda Civic Type R for the TH Motorsport Racing with Intel team (separate to TH's entry with John George).

Born in February 1990, he misses out on becoming the youngest driver in the field by just a matter of weeks to Liam MacMillan!

The Hemel Hempstead racer, who has previously starred in the Formula BMW and Palmer Audi single-seater categories, believes the BTCC is the future for a growing number of younger drivers.

He told btcc.net: “Up until my mid-teens I wanted to be a Formula 1 world champion like any aspiring karter or single-seater driver. But you have to be realistic – without many millions of pounds behind you you’re not going to get a sniff.

“British Touring Cars is perhaps the only thing I’ve been able to say to potential sponsors, apart from F1, and them understand and know what it is. It means something to them. They’ve seen it on TV, read about it in the press and heard of names like Jason Plato and Matt Neal. So attracting sponsorship for these final two rounds, let alone 2010, has been that bit easier. With the way the economy is I can see a sharp rise in young drivers coming from karts and first or second-year single-seater categories deciding to go straight for tin tops with the aim of getting into the BTCC.”

And Hamilton says the older-spec Civic and a team like TH makes for a perfect atmosphere for a young driver looking to find his feet in the BTCC.

He added: “I’m under no illusion. Going from single-seaters to the BTCC is a huge challenge. It’s a very different type of racing and the cars are also massively different. I’ve tested the Civic a few times and done the lap times but it’s OK me doing that on my own – doing it when I’m going bumper-to-bumper with 20 other cars will be something else.

"But the Civic is perfect – I’m under no pressure and it’ll give me a taste of what it’s all about. Plus TH is still a young team in the BTCC and looking to grow. My aim is to do the full season in 2010 to build on my experience so I’m prepared for 2011 when the new technical regulations kick in.

“I’m going to be up against some of the best touring car drivers in the world and know it’s going to be very tough. But the Civic was a pretty potent car not so long ago and you still see the older Honda Integras getting some good results. It could still spring a surprise and to qualify mid-grid would be amazing.”