AFTER SIGNING 2017 RACE DEAL WITH TEAM PYRO
Graduate Cup podium finisher Ollie Pidgley confirms Clio returnPromising 19-year-old goes ‘full circle’ by rejoining Team Pyro
Aspiring Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship racer Ollie Pidgley has today, Wednesday, 14th December, confirmed he will be back on the Renault UK Clio Cup grid for a second season next year after becoming the first 2017 driver signing for Team Pyro in the BTCC feeder series.
The 19-year-old, from Downton in Wiltshire, raced to four Graduate Cup class podium finishes during his maiden campaign in a fourth generation Clio Cup car and is now setting his sights on a push for outright honours when his sophomore season gets underway in April.
Pidgley, of course, made his car racing debut at just 16-years-of-age with Team Pyro back in 2013 in the club-level Michelin Clio Cup Series where he made waves on his first outing with a sensational podium finish.
Following his first full season of ‘tin top’ racing in 2014 with Pyro in the previous model Clio, Pidgley switched to single-seaters the following year in MSA Formula [now the F4 British Championship] before making a return to saloon cars in 2016 with Ciceley Motorsport in the Renault UK Clio Cup.
Now going ‘full circle’ by reuniting with Mark Hunt’s multiple title-winning Leicestershire squad, the Old English Properties New & Refurbished Ltd and Branded Design supported driver is elated to have signed his 2017 race deal so early and looking forward to being part of the Pyro family again.
“I’m so happy to be back with Team Pyro for next season”, he commented, “It’s where I started in cars in 2013, I was only 15 when I first tested with them – Pyro taught me how to drive. I get on with all of the boys really well, Mark [Hunt] runs an incredible team and I want to win for them.
“I’ve always thought Pyro is the best in the Clio Cup, the number of championships they’ve won and the number of drivers the team has produced who have gone on to race in touring cars is proof of that. There’s a lot for me to build on from last season, I’m confident we can be as strong as Josh Price [race winner and multiple podium finisher] was with Pyro this year.”
Pidgley has already tested the fourth gen Clio he will race for Pyro, during a recent run in the wet at Snetterton in Norfolk, and he also contested a club-level MSV Allcomers event at Brands Hatch to get some additional seat time – qualifying on pole position and winning his class.
Delighted to welcome Pidgley back to Pyro, team principal Mark Hunt said: “Ollie’s a great young driver and definitely has the potential to be up there fighting for podiums on a consistent basis. We’ve done three days with him up to now, so that’s three days on the new Michelin tyres, and everything went well. We’ll be starting an intensive pre-season test programme in February.
“Ollie’s our first confirmed driver for next season and he will have some very quick and experienced team-mates, we’re just finalising those deals. He’s got a great family behind him, they’re all good people, and we’re looking forward to helping Ollie deliver the performances we know he can.”
Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent will host the season-opening 2017 Renault UK Clio Cup rounds over the weekend 1st/2nd April.
2017 Renault UK Clio Cup CalendarRds1&2: Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, Kent - 1st/2nd AprilRds3&4: Donington Park National Circuit, Leicestershire - 15th/16th AprilRds5&6: Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire - 6th/7th MayRds7&8: Oulton Park Island Circuit, Cheshire - 20th/21st MayRds9&10: Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire - 10th/11th JuneRds11&12: Snetterton 300 Circuit, Norfolk - 29th/30th JulyRds13&14: Rockingham ISSC, Northamptonshire - 26th/27th AugustRds15&16: Silverstone National Circuit, Northamptonshire - 16th/17th SeptemberRds17&18: Brands Hatch GP Circuit, Kent - 30th September/1st October
