BTCC bid on hold for Chris

Chris is the latest in a long line of young talented drivers to miss out on a drive this season. At the age of 15, Chris moved from karting to cars, and has over the last 3 years, claimed 14 podiums and The Ginetta Hard Charger Award, while competing in The Junior Ginetta Championship and The Clio Cup. He then moved into The British Touring Car Championship with Rob Austin Racing, for the last two meetings of last season, where he became the second youngest driver ever to compete in the BTCC.

Chris said: 'It's very disappointing, only two weeks ago after 6 months of phone calls and knocking on doors, we looked like we had the budget, then one of our main sponsors dropped out saying they had had a very poor year and supporting us has had to be cut from their budget'.

Chris is left now considering his options. Does he drop back into Clio's Ginetta G55's or have a season out? His dad Dave says: 'His heart was set on Touring Cars, he's trained 5 times a week since the end of last season and is super fit. We could start the season but it's not fair on Chris or the team, if after 2 or 3 races we have to pull out due to lack of funds. Rob Austin is now going to drive the second car, but we hope to be in the seat for the second half of the season. We will continue to try and raise the sponsorship required, and when we have sufficient funds to finish the season we will talk to RAR. I would like to thank everybody that as given their time to help with the sponsorship push over the last few weeks and those that have pledged money, and ask all Chris's supportors to bear with us, we will be back racing as soon as we can.'