General News
10/Sep/2012
Rookie for Rockingham
There will be a new face on the Dunlop British Touring Car Championship grid at Rockingham when promising young rookie Howard Fuller makes his BTCC debut.
The 20-year-old steps up from the VW Cup to race the Team HARD. Honda Civic replacing Robb Holland who has a clashing date and thus is missing the next round.
Despite the newcomer’s relative lack of experience, team boss Tony Gilham believes the young Surrey racer won’t be daunted by his promotion to UK motor sport’s premier league.
“I’m confident that he’ll do a good job and make a few people sit up and take notice of his talents,” said Gilham who will mentor Fuller’s progress in the number 22 Honda from the pits. “He takes a sensible approach and has already been a winner at Rockingham this season for our VW Cup team.”
Howard who started racing in T-Cars aged just 14 has been competing in Formula Palmer Audi and BARC Formula Renault single-seaters in recent seasons with varying degrees of success but he has now decided to focus his career progression on tin-tops.
“We’ve decided this is the best path for me to be taking,” confirmed Fuller. “I’ve competed in couple of VW Cup races and the BTCC is where I really want to be. It’s going to be a steep learning curve but racing at Rockingham is all about me getting used to the crowds and the atmosphere.
“I’m very, very excited – if a bit nervous – to be racing against so many big names,” he admitted. “I’ve got a test, though, at Brands Hatch on Friday and that should give me a chance to set-up the car to my liking and to get used to the Dunlop tyres.”
