BTCC newcomer Marc Hynes says he is looking to add “a British Touring Car Championship title or two” to his CV as he prepares for his first competitive full-season of racing since 1999.
Hynes joins the championship in a Triple Eight Race Engineering-run MG6 with backing from Quantel and Bifold. The 36-year-old admits that he is looking forward to joining the series, having followed it in recent years on TV.
“It’s something I’ve always followed – Jason Plato, Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden and everyone else – it always makes great racing,” said Hynes to TouringCars.Net. “It’s a bit of a soap opera and the British championship is always something that’s on the world stage as well. Britain certainly stands at the front of motorsport technology which combined with the best circuits in the world in my opinion it all adds up to something that everybody keeps abreast of.
“I got back from a Formula One race, switched the TV on and the touring cars were just starting. It was such brilliant racing I didn’t switch over until the end of the day and six hours had passed!”
Hynes, who is Head of Driver Development at the Marrusia Formula One team, says that the contacts he has developed in F1 have helped him to start his BTCC career.
“The experience I’ve had over the last five years in Formula One and the commercial world of it certainly made it an easier to task to try and raise budget this year with the understanding of what people are looking for,” explained Hynes. “Combine that with the part I’ve got on the project it’s set to be a really exciting season ahead and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”
Hynes has been testing his new car for 2014 extensively throughout the winter, including a trip to the Circuito Guadix in Southern Spain. Although it is the first time that he has raced a front-wheel driven car, Hynes admits that making the transition has been not too hard.
“Front-wheel drive is not something I’ve done before, and so far it hasn’t presented too many dramas,” admitted Hynes. “There’s certainly a knack to it and I wouldn’t say it’s natural at the moment but it’s not something completely alien [to me]. It’s actually pretty good and fairly similar to the Aussie V8’s I was last driving competitively.”
Regarding those Aussie V8s – Hynes admits that he hadn’t stepped in a racing car in anger since 2008.
“The last race I did was in a Triple Eight car in Australia,” added Hynes, who shared the car with Craig Lowndes for Philip Island and Bathurst. “I literally stepped out of that car and didn’t step in one again until getting in the Triple Eight MG. It’s been a while but I’ve been busy in that time working with John Booth and Graham Lowdon [at Marussia F1, formerly Virgin Racing].
Hynes also revealed that he is planning to be a part of the BTCC for more years to come and is treating it like a ‘second career’ after his single-seater career in the late 90s.
“Certainly the plan would be to do a two-year programme now and get really stuck into it and see how I’m doing,” said Hynes. “You’ve got to have the best drivers in the BTCC – I’m pretty sure I will be but as I say it’s all to prove. It’s start-again time really. I’ve got to go out there and try and do what I was capable of before.
“I’m starting to feel that buzz coming back and the motivation and the headspace all seems to be how I remember it. It doesn’t actually feel like I’ve been away for five years – I’m sure that will all change within thirty seconds of the lights going green at Brands. That’s what you’ve got to try and apply your experience to and learn as fast as you can.”
Although the announcement was only made in December, Hynes added that he had been working on an entry into the BTCC since the start of the 2013 season.
“This whole idea has been in the making since the first round of the championship last year and seriously we’ve been working at it for probably six months.
“There was only one team we spoke to about providing the racing service for us and that’s Triple Eight. I’ve known the guys for a while and their reputation precedes them. Clearly the car’s up to the job and from what Jason and Sam [Tordoff] did in it last year it’s a top car. I’ve really enjoyed driving it so far.”
Hynes will make his BTCC début at Brands Hatch on the 29th and 30th March 2014.