General News

Tordoff in at MG

Sam Tordoff has signed up to race for the factory MG KX Momentum team in the 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, it was today (31 January) announced at MG’s headquarters in Birmingham.

Leeds racer Tordoff will be team-mate to two-time BTCC champion Jason Plato, who will also double up as his mentor under the 'KX akademy' scheme. Tordoff was confirmed as one of seven drivers to receive mentoring and funding through the academy, but he is the only driver to be promoted to the highest tier of British motor sport for 2013.

The 23-year-old has already enjoyed one outing in the BTCC, where he drove for Triple Eight Race Engineering at the Brands Hatch season finale in 2010. He acquitted himself well during the weekend with a top ten finish in the final race, and he is delighted to be back with the same squad ahead of a full assault for the championship.

He told btcc.net: “I'm absolutely ecstatic. It has taken a lot of hard work to get here but the timing is right and everything is in place for me to show what I can do. I've been racing on the TOCA package for four years now and reaching the BTCC was always the sole intention. But to sign for the best team, with the best car and to have the best team-mate is just unbelievable. I'm just thankful to MG and KX for the opportunity.”

In recent years Tordoff has cut a rapid ascent through two other series featured on the TOCA support package, where he spent two seasons each in the Renault Clio Cup and Porsche Carrera Cup GB respectively. A race winner in his maiden Clio campaign in 2009, Sam returned to finish third in the championship a year later – scoring two wins and twelve podium positions in the process. His Carrera Cup career took a similar path where he finished third overall last year, taking four race victories along the way.

Now Tordoff is making the jump to the BTCC and, while the talented youngster is under no illusions regarding the task that lies ahead, he is confident that his first full season in the BTCC will be a successful one. “I haven't set any targets as such, but then I won't be making any excuses just because it's my first season,” he said. “The team proved this car could win races in its first year, so I expect to hugely competitive.”