Mike Bushell has agreed a deal with Team HARD to continue piloting one of the team’s Volkswagen CCs in the 2019 British Touring Car Championship.
The acquisition of a new sponsor in Fox Transport has made the early announcement possible, with Bushell the first among the existing 31 entries to confirm he will remain for 2019.
A brace of sixth-placed finishes have been the highlight for the 2017 Renault UK Clio Cup Champion on his return to the UK’s headline tin-top series, and he currently sits 22nd overall.
Commenting on the deal, Bushell highlighted the importance of consistency and believes the partnership can continue to reach new heights in future, citing reigning Independent Champion Tom Ingram’s long-term relationship with Speedworks Motorsport as an example.
“I am delighted to be staying with the team for the 2019 season,” said Bushell.
“After the struggles early on this year, hard work and the determination to not give up has rewarded us with strong pace and several great points finishes.
“Topping the timesheets at Silverstone in Free Practice was a real highlight, not to mention achieving the team’s best ever qualifying with fourth place at Rockingham.
“The key to success in the BTCC is consistency. I always look up to the likes of Tom Ingram and Speedworks who stick together, keep making progress and are now fighting for the overall driver’s title.
“I see Team HARD as the perfect place to further my racing career as my relationship with the team goes beyond the race weekends and I have been able to be heavily involved with the preparation and engineering. We’ve become a family and every success is shared between us all.
“We’ve had some real flashes of speed this year and we have a great winter testing plan lined up to build on the solid package we have now. All of this would not be possible without the help of Tony Gilham and I look forward to repaying the faith he has in me.”
“Mike is an unbelievable talent and I have never met a more driven and ambitious driver in my life,” added Team Principal Tony Gilham.
“He has extensive knowledge about the car and has been a real asset for the team in the engineering department.
“He is the complete package and one that we wanted to hold on to in our quest to be a top team in the best championship in the world. It is amazing for the team to have a deal in place already for 2019 and will enable us to improve in all the areas where we feel we can really work on over the winter.
“The Volkswagen CC has been extensively developed and we now believe we have a package to rival any other team and driver combination on the grid. We still have more to come and will be looking to build in certain areas where we need to in order to compete at the front consistently.
“We are still a young family team, but are very determined to succeed at the very top and in Mike we have the perfect driver to do that.
“The whole team are behind Mike and we must say a huge thank you to every single person involved in what we are building. We have shown glimpses of pace but now it is time to take it to the next level.
“As a team we have come on leaps and bounds and with each year that issues we improve in all areas. We have lots of driver interest and would like to have our line up confirmed nice and early so we can focus on our winter testing programme to maximise our performance for next year.
“Most teams are at their ultimate performance but we still have so much more to come so it’s very exciting for us as we look forward to a bright future.”
The 2018 season concludes at Brands Hatch (GP) over the weekend of 29-30 September.