Following the recent announcement that Jake Hill will campaign a full season in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship this year, joining Chris Smiley in the second Toyota Avensis, Team HARD. can now confirm that it has agreed a deal that will see them expand to three cars for 2016.

Kent-based Team HARD. has had a very busy winter and this is another step forward as it looks to move further up the grid this year in the UK’s premier series. 

Team Principal Tony Gilham has worked tirelessly with his loyal staff over the last 12 months to reinvent themselves and piece together what they believe to be their ‘dream team’. Gilham said: “With Jake Hill joining Chris Smiley, we already have one of the most exciting pairings of young talent in the series. As soon as it became apparent that we were in a position to run a third car, we decided to again look to young talent to fill the seat. I really couldn’t have asked for a better line-up and to be in a position to be able to support these young drivers in the BTCC thanks to our amazing sponsors is unbelievable.”

The team now has a mammoth task to complete the build of the second and third Avensis and will aim to run all of them at the BTCC media day at Donington Park on 22 March, before further running leading up to the series opener at Brands Hatch. All three cars will run Swindon engines with full support and the team is now working closely with the engine manufacturer to have these ready as soon as possible.

The latest driver to join the RCIB Insurance Racing squad will be announced this Wednesday at 8pm. This driver will join Jake Hill in a pair of RCIB backed cars whilst Chris Smiley will move across to race under a new team name – to be announced in due course – which will be the start of another exciting new partnership for the future.