Vauxhall will once again race in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 2017 after signing a deal with upcoming team Power Maxed Racing.
The Bidford Upon Avon team will run two Vauxhall Astras as official manufacturer entries in 2017. The cars will be current-gen Astra hatch models – the reigning European Car of the Year.
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Two Ellesmere Port-built shells have been supplied to the team and work is now underway building them into 2017 BTCC racers (and, if these digitisations are anything to go by, pretty awesome-looking 2017 racers at that).
Adam Weaver, team principal of Power Maxed Racing, said: “We are incredibly pleased and proud to be working with Vauxhall and to be the team that brings this iconic and highly successful brand back to the BTCC.”
Alan Gow, BTCC series director, added: “It is fantastic to be welcoming Vauxhall back to the BTCC as a manufacturer entry. Its history and pedigree is there for all to see and I have no doubt that the highly professional and experienced team at Power Maxed Racing will be great partners.”
The team has still to announce its driver line-up but promises more in the near future. This year, it ran Hunter Abbot, Emmerdale actor Kevin Fletcher plus a number of races for Dave Newsham – and also ran a successful test for ambitious Mini Challenge racer Rob Smith.