Adam Morgan will return to the British Touring Car Championship in 2013, racing the Toyota Avensis which Frank Wrathall raced in 2011 under the Ciceley Racing banner.
Having secured the 2011 Ginetta GT Supercup title in 2011 in the family team, which is headed by former racer and father to Adam, Russell, Morgan Snr plans to reform the squad for the 2013 campaign.
“We are well on the way with the project,” said Russell Morgan, “and we are enjoying getting the old team back together around us and planning Ciceley Racing’s BTCC debut. It will be a big step for us, and we are looking for an experienced race engineer to help us, but we are relishing the challenge.
“The only sadness is that it means the end of our fruitful association with Speedworks Motorsport. Christian Dick and his team have worked tirelessly on Adam’s behalf throughout this season and have helped bring him on in leaps and bounds, for which we will be eternally grateful. This was not an easy decision for us and finances were the main consideration.”
Morgan entered the BTCC for the first time in 2012 with the Speedworks Motorsport team and ended up 19th in the drivers’ Championship at the end of a tough maiden season.
During the season, Morgan showed himself to be a quick qualifier – he finished the season with an average qualifying result of 11th – and he secured four top ten finishes, having scored his first points finish mid season.
“We have a lot of work to do and a lot of stuff to sort out, but it should be great and I am really looking forward to it. This is a family team and everyone likes really to get stuck in and to help out. We will be organising every aspect of every race weekend ourselves and that is something that we all enjoy doing. Obviously it’s a bit of a step up to touring cars, but we are going to give it a go: it all worked really well for us in 2011 in Ginettas,” explains the 24 year old of the new challenge for 2013.
“It’s a shame to be leaving Speedworks: they are a great bunch of lads and despite my not having had the best season’s racing they have been great at helping me out and keeping me focused and committed, so I really want to say a massive thank-you to them.”
The team plans to have the car sorted before the start of the 2013 campaign at Brands Hatch at the end of March, so they can get out on track and test the Avensis.
“Now we are going to crack on and hopefully get the Toyota ready well before the season starts so we can get out testing. We would really like to get everything done well in advance and get five or six days of testing in the bag so that we are fully prepared and ready to go, and hopefully we can then hit the ground running.
“This year was a challenging one for me. I learned a great deal about the car and about set-up. I believe I showed that I have the pace to compete in the top 10. Now it is all about now getting the results.”
Looking ahead to the 2013 campaign, Morgan Snr is hoping to convert the pace Adam showed during the 2012 campaign into solid results.
“Our hope for 2013 is for an improvement in Adam’s luck and to become a top-10 regular,” said Russell, “and then maybe to be able to snatch a podium…” concluded Russell.