Simon Belcher has revealed that his Handy motorsport team are planning to expand to two cars in 2016 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), with the second car being a brand new Toyota Avensis piloted by a “proven front-running driver”.
Handy Motorsport have competed in the BTCC with Belcher since the start of the 2014 season, receiving support from Speedworks Motorsport. The partnership with the Cheshire-based team is set to continue in 2016.
Belcher himself recently stepped aside from driving duties for three rounds at Snetterton, Knockhill and Rockingham, giving driving duties to American Robb Holland for the events.
The new car is already in build, although the team’s budgets have yet to be finalised, with no word on a potential second driver. The team are planning a full reveal at the Autosport International show in early January.
“These are very exciting times for Handy Motorsport”, said Belcher. “We’ve been working on our plans for 2016 and beyond for quite a while now and we’re obviously delighted to confirm the build of a brand new Avensis is already underway.
“The new RML spec car is an improved design over the existing car and significantly lighter too and the aim is to have the car on display at the Autosport Show in January.
“We have a strong desire to run two cars in 2016, that’s the main plan, and we want to field a front-running BTCC driver in at least one car next year. Discussions are currently taking place where that’s concerned and we’re actively pursuing sponsorship opportunities to help make it happen.
“We’ve had two fantastic seasons working hand-in-hand with the guys at Speedworks, forming a partnership with the team for our move into the BTCC back in 2014 really helped to make the step up possible.
“There’s a lot of hard work ahead over the winter to prepare as well as we possibly can with the new car but we’re all absolutely determined to make a significant step forward in 2016. Bringing in an experienced front-running driver into at least one car is central to those goals.”