With just over four weeks to go until the start of the eagerly
anticipated Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship season,
series organisers are confidently expecting a grid of around 20
cars for the first race meeting of 2012 after today, Thursday, 8th
March, confirming the first 18 drivers.
Underlining the strong position Protyre Formula Renault BARC
holds as the most cost-effective and popular junior single-seater
championship in the UK, the healthy entry list is headed by four
car line-ups from reigning champions Antel Motorsport and the title
challenging Fortec Motorsports team.
British-born racer Raoul Owens (Cape Town, South Africa) and
Russia's Ivan Taranov (Oxford) will drive with Antel for their
respective second seasons in the championship and will be joined by
series newcomers Tom Oliphant (Tarporley, Cheshire) and Henry Chart
(Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire).
Fortec's line-up features 2011 Ginetta Junior Champion Seb
Morris (Marford, Wrexham), karting graduate Laura Tillett (West
Malling, Kent), Mexican 17-year-old Diego Menchaca - who is part of
the same Escuderia Telmex driver programme as FIA Formula One World
Championship racer Sergio Perez - and Chinese 18-year-old Martin
Cao.
MGR Motorsport has confirmed three drivers for its 2012
campaign. Second year competitor David Wagner (Glasgow) remains
with Mark Godwin's squad and will be joined by James Fletcher
(Windlesham, Surrey), who debuted with the team in last November's
end-of-year 'Finals Series' and won both races at Rockingham, and
16-year-old karting graduate Jake Dalton (Stoke-on-Trent).
Scorpio Motorsport, title winning team in 2008 and 2009, has
filled one of its seats with Brazilian Henrique Baptista
(Eastbourne) while MTech Lite has secured the signature of Sean
Walkinshaw (Chipping Norton, West Oxfordshire) who will embark on
just his second full season of motorsport.
Cliff Dempsey Racing makes a welcome return to Formula Renault
competition this year with American 16-year-old Trent Hindman, 2011
Ontario Formula Ford Champion and part of the Team USA
Scholarship.