Former British Touring Car Championship racer Howard Fuller will join Sean Walkinshaw Racing for the inaugural TCR UK season in 2018, racing the team’s Honda Civic Type-R.
Fuller previously took part in part seasons in the 2012 and 2013 BTCC, both times with Tony Gilham’s Team HARD outfit. In his first season in 2012, Fuller competed in six races at the wheel of an S2000 Honda Civic before moving on to a Vauxhall Insignia in 2013.
Since then Fuller has tkane part in the Volkswagen Racing Cup, before being forced into a hiatus from racing for two years due to budget restrictions, with the TCR UK entry providing him with an opportunity to pick up competitive touring car racing once again.
“Sean [Walkinshaw – team owner] and I have been very good friends for donkey’s years”, said the 25-year-old. “We both thought TCR UK would be very interesting for SWR to do, with all of the amazing Walkinshaw family history in touring cars, and it’s fantastic to now be racing for the team. Sean kindly invited me to shake-down the Honda at Donington and it re-lit the fire.
“I’ve got a strong relationship with the Honda brand too through the dealer network, I do a lot of work with them from a commercial point of view, so racing the SWR Honda Civic is a great extension of that. The dream is to obviously win races and mount a challenge for the championship, that’s where I want to be.
“I really want to build a strong foundation with the team, they’re extremely professional, very realistic and I believe I can do a good job on track and away from the track too with the sponsors. For me, driving is only 20% of it, the other 80% has to be about bringing maximum value and return on investment for the sponsors and that’s the approach you need to have.”
Team owner Sean Walkinshaw is pleased to have signed the first driver for his outfits first entry into TCR, believing that Fuller’s previous experience in single-seaters (having raced in Formula Palmer Audi, Formula Renault BARC and Formula Renault northern European Cup) will leave him in good stead.
“We’re really happy to have signed Howard for TCR UK,” said Walkinshaw. “He’s a great driver and we’ve known each other a long time – back when I first started racing in Formula Renault.
“It’s important for us to have a driver with touring car experience and Howard definitely ticks all the boxes.
“Obviously the Honda went well in the official test at Silverstone recently, we gathered a lot of data and got to understand the Yokohama tyres, so we’re really looking forward to the first round where I’m sure Howard is going to do a fantastic job.”