Restart Racing have announced that they will be returning to the TCR UK Touring Car Championship for the 2024 season, as part of their expanded TCR Competition program for next year.
The 2022 TCR UK drivers’ championship-winning squad will be back in the UK-based TCR series for its third straight season, after an exciting debut in 2022 before working through a difficult 2023 season with the new Honda Civic Type R Civic FL5 in its first year of competition
Having expanded to a two-car operation this year, the team has seen a big improvement in 18-year-old Scott Sumpton, who proved himself in the TCR UK championship this year as a future talent, enjoying a fantastic second half of the 2023 season.
Sumpton, who is part of the Honda Civic TCR builder JAS Motorsport’s Driver Development Programme, has received expert coaching from the touring car specialists, as well as support and guidance from Restart Racing and team principal Ben Taylor, also overseen by experienced team owner Bert Taylor.
As a result, Scott has become a consistent front runner in the championship, finishing 12th in the drivers’ standings of the highly-competitive UK series.
Whilst Scott has been confirmed as one of the teams drivers for the teams debut in the 2024 TCR Europe Touring Car Series, this is part of the teams plan to run multiple entries in TCR Europe and TCR UK, with other programmes also in its plan and soon to be revealed.
“I’m really looking forward to competing in the TCR Europe series next season. I’ve had a fantastic year this year with Restart Racing and JAS Motorsport, and racing in the highly-competitive European series is definitely the next step in my development. I’m thrilled to get the opportunity to race against some world-class drivers, and compete on some fantastic circuits, all while gathering more experience and fighting for podiums and race wins.
“I’ve had a terrific time in the TCR UK Touring Car championship for the last two years and I’ve learned a lot. I also say goodbye to my FK7 Civic, which has been an amazing car, but I can’t wait to be racing the new FL5 Civic, which is now a fast and proven race-winner and should be the perfect car in which to make my European debut.”
Restart Racing Team Principal Ben Taylor is excited about the future for Restart Racing as they expand their operations in TCR competition next year to include TCR Europe and TCR UK.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity ahead to race in the TCR Europe series next year with Scott. Our TCR programme has been an exciting challenge for us, with winning the 2022 TCR UK championship in our first season a fantastic achievement.
“We followed that up with our development programme this year with Scott, working with him to become a regular front-runner in the series. We believe the TCR Europe series will provide an excellent opportunity for both Scott and us to grow as an operation. We’re also aiming for this to just be the start, with the plan to run more cars in the series, including continuing to be a front running team in TCR UK, and elsewhere in TCR next year.”
To find out more about the TCR UK Touring Car Championship visit https://www.tcr-uk.co.uk/ for more info and how to get involved.
