Marc Hynes is set to campaign a third Triple Eight-built MG6 in the 2014 British Touring Car Championship, marking a return to racing for the former British Formula 3 Champion.
Hynes, 35, won the 1995 Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship before graduating to the British Formula Renault Championship, where he took the title in 1997. His biggest success came in 1999 when he was the British F3 Champion.
Successes in single seaters led to a test with the BAR Formula 1 team, before Hynes changed career direction to work on the operational side of racing. He will dovetail his 2014 BTCC campaign with his management role at the Marussia F1 team, where he acts as the Head of Driver Development.
It is expected that Hynes’ will campaign the 2014 season as part of a ‘satellite team’ alongside the manufacturer-entered MG KX Momentum Racing team.
“’I am hugely excited about racing in the BTCC,” said Hynes, whose last competitive outing was in 2008 in selected endurance rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship. “The series looks better than ever – strong teams and drivers with big crowds and great TV coverage. The BTCC package presents a commercially viable formula, which is pretty rare these days.
“I always knew that I had unfinished business in a racesuit and I feel very privileged to have been presented with the opportunity to go racing with Triple Eight. Their record in British Touring Cars is remarkable and they are a team that I have long admired. Testing starts soon and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel.”
Triple Eight Team Principal Ian Harrison added that he was pleased to be able to run a third car for an established competitive name like Hynes, even though it will be his first appearance in the series.
“Naturally we are delighted to be running a third car next season, with the added bonus of a driver of Marc’s pedigree in the cockpit,” said Harrison. “I worked with him in 2008 at Bathurst and Philip Island, so I know what Marc can do in a tintop.
“Being able to get his car built and out testing early will give him the opportunity to get to grips with the NGTC car prior to the start of the season and it is then a case of learning to race the car in the BTCC environment, which can be quite challenging.”