Former British Touring Car driver Carl Boardley will contest the 2023 TCR UK Touring Car Championship after signing a deal to drive for Zest Racecar Engineering.
The four-time National Hot Rod World Champion will drive a CUPRA Leon Competición TCR, run by Malcolm Cleland’s outfit, contesting all fifteen rounds of the 2023 season.
Having spent the last few years in the TOCA paddock, firstly in Ginetta GT4 Supercup amassing 9 wins and 29 further podiums, Carl stepped up to the BTCC in 2019 for a 3-year stint, piloting a VW CC, BMW 1 series and then latterly an Infiniti Q50. Carl now feels the time is right to make a return to racing following a year out to concentrate on other commitments.
Zest Racecar Engineering are vastly experienced entrants in TCR, meaning that the team has the experience to get up to speed with the model of choice, the CUPRA Leon Competición TCR, which has seen success in different TCR Series’ around the globe.
With the start of the 2023 season closing in, Carl is looking forward to his first taste of the new car over the next few days to ensure he makes the best start possible ahead of the opening two rounds of the year at Snetterton.
“I’ve had various things bubbling along for a little while now although this has all come to a conclusion very quickly. I’m very happy to be returning to Touring Car Racing and making my debut in the TCR UK Touring Car Championship this year,” said Carl.
“My racing has to be enjoyable first and foremost, I have a young family at home and our businesses take up a lot of time so committing to a Championship is a big thing, however, make no mistake, we are aiming straight for the ‘pointy end’ of the grid and will look to hit the ground running for round one. Looking from afar to date, the championship appears to have moved on considerably recently and I’m very happy to be a part of the grid in 2023.”
Malcolm Cleland (Zest Racecar Engineering) continued “We are massively excited to get this across the line with Carl and to renew our involvement with the TCR UK grid. Carl and I have ‘crossed paths’ a few times during his time in the BTCC and after discussing the path we both wanted to head for this year, it was clear we would be great together.”
“The Championship has evolved a lot over the last couple of years into one of the most competitive around and although the car has only just landed in our Silverstone-based workshops, it’s now full steam ahead to get both ourselves and Carl acclimatised to the car and the way it works ahead of what we hope will be a very successful season.”
Snetterton’s 300 circuit plays host to the opening two rounds of the 2023 TCR UK Touring Car Championship season on the 8th and 9th of April, visit https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/ for more info and how to get involved.
