Scott Sumpton is to graduate to the British Touring Car Championship in a CUPRA Leon with Restart Racing, continuing to partner Chris Smiley in the team run by Ben Taylor.
Sumpton, 19, made his touring car début in 2022 when he joined the TCR UK grid in a Hyundai i30 N TCR run by the Essex & Kent Motorsport.
He moved to Restart Racing for 2023, switching to JAS Motorsport-built Honda machinery, where his results improved, leading to a career-best fifth in the penultimate meeting of the year at Donington Park.
Sumpton ended the year 12th overall in TCR UK, and also took part in the final two meetings of TCR Spain, where the Essex racer sampled a new Honda Civic Type-R FL5 with a view to taking on TCR Europe in 2024 – something which is still possible due to no calendar clashes between the series. TouringCars.Net understands that Sumpton is still planning to compete in TCR Europe in 2024.
The team thus has a consistent driver line-up for its first year in the BTCC in the ex-Team HARD CUPRAs, having retained both Smiley and Sumpton as its drivers.
“I’m looking forward to this season more than anything,” said Sumpton. “To race in the BTCC is almost every UK driver’s dream, and it’s a fantastic opportunity for me to develop as a driver and get to benchmark myself against some of the best drivers in motorsport.
“I’m also really happy to be racing again with Restart Racing. I joined this team last year and instantly felt at home.
“They’ve helped me so much to improve as a racing driver, and our results at the end of the year are a testament to the work we’ve done together. To carry that on into the BTCC is the natural next step.
“Of course, I’m under no illusions, the BTCC is an incredibly competitive championship. My goal for this year is to carry on learning, hopefully to fight for points in the races, and also contend for the Jack Sears Trophy and take some wins in that class.
“I’m also very happy to have the support of Trade Nation as my first partner coming onboard this year, and we’re looking to build a strong relationship. Let’s have a good year!”
Team Principal Ben Taylor praised Sumpton’s cooperation with Northern Irish team-mate Smiley last year, and is looking forward to continuing to work with the young racer.
“We’re really happy to have Scott onboard for a second season with us, and he’s a logical choice to bring both consistency as well as exciting new and young talent with us as we join the BTCC,” said Taylor.
“Scott’s made incredible progress in the last year, and we’re really excited to see what he can do in the BTCC in our CUPRA Leon. He also works really well with Chris Smiley, who’s a fantastic mentor as well as a driver.
“It’s great for us as a team to have our programme in-place so early on, so we can spend the next three months getting ready for the start of the season, and to compete against the already-established competition.
“This year is going to be an exciting challenge, and one we’re relishing as a young operation.”