Founded | 2012 |
---|---|
Team principal(s) | Tony Gilham |
Current series | VW Racing Cup Ginetta GT4 Supercup Renault Clio Cup UK Britcar Endurance Championship GT Cup Championship |
Noted drivers | Bobby Thompson Jack Goff Michael Crees Carl Boardley Tom Barley Darron Lewis Simon Rudd Jade Edwards Max Coates Tom Knight Michael Epps Toby Davis Nicolas Hamilton Howard Fuller Mike Bushell |
Website | team-hard |
Tony Gilham Racing (Team HARD. Racing), competing as Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD., Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils. and Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown. currently, is a British motor racing team based in Dartford, Kent and founded by Tony Gilham. The team raced under the Team HARD. banner in the British Touring Car Championship until the end of 2013. They now compete in the British Touring Car Championship, Volkswagen Racing Cup, Ginetta GT4 Supercup, Mini Challenge UK and the GT Cup series.
In February 2012, Gilham announced he had purchased a Super 2000 Honda Civic from Team Dynamics. [1] The following month he announced the formation of Tony Gilham Racing which would run the car in the 2012 British Touring Car Championship season under the RCIB Insurance & HARD. banner. [2] Gilham started on pole position for the reversed grid race at Thruxton but having already slipped down to third, he damaged the car and retired from the race. [3] Gilham took the first podium finish for the team at Donington Park in race three after Mat Jackson was disqualified, finishing third behind Gordon Shedden and Jason Plato. Robb Holland took over the car for the meetings at Snetterton and Knockhill. [4] Holland failed to finish his first race when he collided with the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota Avensis of Adam Morgan. Former Formula Renault BARC driver Howard Fuller raced the car in the meetings at Rockingham and Silverstone. [5] He achieved a best result of eleventh in the first and third races at Silverstone. Prior to the final round of the season at Brands Hatch, Tony Gilham Racing bought a full NGTC–spec Vauxhall Insignia from Thorney Motorsport along with an incomplete shell which would be built up over the winter. [6] Gilham raced the Insignia at Brands Hatch and former Ginetta GT Supercup driver Aaron Williamson drove the Honda Civic. [7]
In December 2012, Team HARD. announced the development of an NGTC Volkswagen CC to compete in the 2013 season which would run alongside a pair of Vauxhall Insignias and the S2000 Honda Civic. [8] The team signed series rookie Jack Goff to drive the first of the Insignias later that month. [9] The first of the Volkswagen CC drivers was announced at the beginning of January 2013 with Tom Onslow-Cole joining the team from eBay Motors in a three-year deal.[ citation needed ] The second Insignia seat was filled by former FIA Formula Two Championship driver James Cole. [10] Robb Holland will return to the team for a minimum of two rounds which do not clash with his drive in the World Touring Car Championship. [11] The team sold their S2000 Honda Civic prior to the start of the 2013 season in order to focus on starting the season with three NGTC cars. [12] The team ran their cars under two names, the Vauxhall Insignias were run under the RCIB Insurance Racing banner and the Volkswagen CCs were run under the PPCGB.com/Kraftwerk Racing banner. [13]
Howard Fuller and Robb Holland were due to share the other Volkswagen, however this never occurred and from Snetterton onwards the team entered partnership with Team BMR Restart by supplying them with a NGTC Volkswagen CC (the team had previously been running outdated S2000 machinery). [14] Onslow Cole managed to grab three podiums at Thruxton and Croft while his teammates struggled to make it into the top 10 in their insignias. James Cole left the team in July and he was replaced by Robb Holland. Scottish Legends racer Kieran Gallagher replaced Holland for the Knockhill round, little over a year since Gallagher gained his racing licence. [15] Goff decided to miss the Knockhill round in order to save his sponsorship budget with Paul O'Neill stepping in . [16] Goff returned for the Rockingham round while Howard Fuller took the second Insignia. [17] Onslow-Cole left the team and joined Motorbase the final three rounds of the season [18] In the final race of the year at Brands Hatch Jack Goff finished second after battling with reigning champion Gordon Shedden for the lead. The two teams managed to accumulate 4 podiums between them and finish 9th and 11th in the championship respectively.
Before the start of the 2014 British Touring Car Championship season, Tony Gilham Racing merged with Team BMR to form Team BMR Racing. [19] Goff was confirmed as their first driver, racing under the RCIB Insurance Racing banner in a Vauxhall Insignia. [20]
By the mid way point of the 2014 season at Snetterton Warren Scott and his Team BMR racing team had severed all ties with Tony Gilham Racing after purchasing all of the teams assets including the pair of Vauxhall Insignia's and Volkswagen Passat CC's. From that round onwards the team continued to run under the Chrome Edition Restart Racing Banner fielding four Volkswagens for Scott, Alain Menu, Aron Smith and Jack Goff. Tony Gilham and Team Hard re-emerged at the start of the 2015 season with a single car entry after a deal was done with United Autosports to acquire one of their Toyota Avensis' that was previously raced by Frank Wrathall. Scot Kieran Gallagher has raced the Avensis at each round with a string of poor results to date, with the car not even taking to the grid on several occasions, as the team and driver continue to struggle with budget issues.
The team will introduce the Cupra brand to the BTCC for the first time in 2021 after announcing Jack Goff, Glynn Geddie and Aron Taylor-Smith will drive three brand new Cupra Leons.
British Touring Car Championship results | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team name | Car | Drivers | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest laps | Points | D.C. | T.C. | I.D.C. | I.T.C. |
2012 | RCIB Insurance Racing | Vauxhall Insignia | Tony Gilham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 17th | 11th | 14th | 8th |
Honda Civic | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
Howard Fuller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 24th | 21st | |||||
Aaron Williamson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 27th | 23rd | |||||
Robb Holland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 26th | 22nd | |||||
2013 | RCIB Insurance Racing | Vauxhall Insignia | ||||||||||
Robb Holland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 31st | 11th | 28th | 8th | |||
Jack Goff | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 17th | 13th | |||||
James Cole | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 21st | 18th | |||||
Howard Fuller | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 26th | 20th | |||||
Kieran Gallagher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28th | 30th | |||||
Tom Barley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35th | 32nd | |||||
Paul O'Neill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | NC | |||||
PPCGB.com/Kraftwerk Racing | Volkswagen CC | Tom Onslow-Cole | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 12th | 9th | 7th | 7th | |
Aiden Moffat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 30th | 23rd | |||||
Andy Wilmot | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38th | 32nd | |||||
2015 | RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | ||||||||||
Kieran Gallagher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 30th | 18th | 22nd | 15th | |||
Tony Gilham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32nd | 23rd | |||||
2016 | RCIB Insurance Racing | Toyota Avensis | ||||||||||
Michael Epps | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 24th | 11th | 22nd | 5th | |||
Jake Hill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 17th | 23rd | |||||
TLC Racing | ||||||||||||
Chris Smiley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30th | 18th | 20th | 14th | |||
Michael Caine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33rd | 24th | |||||
Tony Gilham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35th | 23rd | |||||
2017 | Autoaid/RCIB Insurance Racing | Volkswagen CC | ||||||||||
Michael Epps | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 17th | 13th | 8th | 5th | |||
Will Burns | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35th | 18th | |||||
TAG Racing | Jake Hill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 20th | 15th | 10th | 11th | ||
2018 | Trade Price Cars with Brisky Racing | Volkswagen CC | ||||||||||
Mike Bushell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 24th | 16th | 16th | 10th | |||
Jake Hill | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 26th | 19th | |||||
Daniel Welch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37th | 26th | |||||
Ollie Pidgley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38th | 27th | |||||
Team HARD with Trade Price Cars | ||||||||||||
Bobby Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 28th | 21st | 17th | 14th | |||
Michael Caine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36th | 24th | |||||
Carl Boardley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | NC | |||||
Ethan Hammerton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39th | 28th | |||||
2019 | GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct | Volkswagen CC | ||||||||||
Bobby Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 35 | 22nd | 15th | 11th | 9th | |||
Michael Crees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 26th | 19th | |||||
RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport | ||||||||||||
Jack Goff | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 21st | 14th | 12th | 7th | |||
Carl Boardley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 29th | 15th | |||||
2020 | RCiB Insurance with Fox Transport | Volkswagen CC | Jack Goff | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 23rd | 14th | 16th | 9th |
Mike Bushell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27th | 21st | |||||
Glynn Geddie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29th | 23rd | |||||
Tom Onslow-Cole | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31st | 26th | |||||
Ollie Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 25th | 25th | |||||
ROKiT Racing with Team HARD. | Nicolas Hamilton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28th | 16th | 24th | 13th | ||
HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD | BMW 125i | Carl Boardley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 21st | 13th | 15th | 11th | |
2021 | Team HARD with Autobrite Direct | Cupra León | Jack Mitchell | |||||||||
Jack Goff | ||||||||||||
Glynn Geddie | ||||||||||||
ROKiT Racing with iQuoto Online Trading | Nicolas Hamilton | |||||||||||
Team HARD with HUB Financial Solutions | Árón Taylor-Smith | |||||||||||
2022 | Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero | Cupra León | Carl Boardley | |||||||||
Tom Oliphant | ||||||||||||
Bobby Thompson | ||||||||||||
Will Powell | ||||||||||||
Yazoo with Safuu.com Racing | Nicolas Hamilton | |||||||||||
Árón Taylor-Smith | ||||||||||||
2023 | Re.Beverages and Bartercard with Team HARD | Cupra León | Dexter Patterson | |||||||||
Jade Edwards | ||||||||||||
Autobrite Direct with Millers Oils | Bobby Thompson | |||||||||||
Dan Lloyd | ||||||||||||
Go-Fix with Autoaid Breakdown | Nicolas Hamilton | |||||||||||
Jack Butel | ||||||||||||
Year | Team name | Car | Drivers | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest laps | Points | D.C. | T.C. | I.D.C. | I.T.C. |
Team HARD entered Britcar, for the 'Into-the-Night' race at Brands Hatch, at the end of the 2016 season with two Ginetta G55 GT4s. The cars were entered as invitation entries, ineligible to score points, in Class 3, with Darron Lewis and Daniel Wylie alongside Tom Knight and Dan Kirby. Lewis and Wylie qualified 8th on the grid while Knight and Kirby were 11th on row 6. Lewis and Wylie finished the 3-hour race 7th overall with Knight and Kirby finishing 9th.
For 2017, Team HARD made a quadruple car entry, in the Endurance category in Class 3, for the first round at Silverstone, with Simon Rudd and Tom Barley, [21] Darron Lewis and Tom Knight, [22] Angus Dudley and Callum Hawkins-Row [23] and Toby Bearne and Daniel Wylie. At the end of the season, Lewis and Knight were 2nd in the Endurance championship, 19 points behind Witt Gamski and Ross Wylie, Rudd and Barley finished 3rd while Dudley and Hawkins-Row were further behind on points in 5th. In Class 3, Team HARD made it a 1-2-3 in the points standings.
In 2018, the first round at Rockingham saw Team HARD bring in three G55s in Class 3, to compete in the Endurance category, the duo of Simon Rudd and Tom Barley, Darron Lewis and Adam Hatfield and invitation entry of Graham Roberts and Ben Wallace. During the course of the season, there was only one driver change for Simon Rudd, Sam Randon in round 4 at Donington Park. Through the whole season, the car piloted by Hatfield and Lewis had multiple driver changes, in the form of Callum Hawkins-Row, Sam Randon, Angus Dudley, Nick Scott-Dickeson and Ryan Harper-Ellam. The driver changes meant varying positions where the car finished, but with only one non-finish. At the end of the season, Rudd and Barley finished 2nd in the Endurance championship standings overall 12 points behind Matt Greenwood and Sarah Moore, but were 1st in Class 3. The second of Team HARD's cars was 4th overall in the championship 8 points behind Mike McCollum and Sean Cooper and third in Class 3.
The team did not participate in the opening rounds of 2019, only confirming an entry at the end of the season, competing in the 'Into-the-Night' races at Brands Hatch with Nick Scott-Dickeson joined by Steve Chandler [24] and Ben Clayden driving with ex-BTCC driver Michael Epps.
In 2017, Adam Hatfield drove an ex-BTCC Volkswagen Passat at Donington Park in round 5, he qualified 24th, finishing 15th in race one but retiring before completing the second 50-minute sprint race. Hatfield competed in the next round at Oulton Park in a Toyota Avensis. [25] He qualified 15th on the grid, finishing the race in 10th place and 2nd in the Sprint category. In the 50-minute Sprint race he placed 5th overall. For the annual 'Into-the-Night' races at Brands Hatch, Jesse Chamberlain and Ben Wallace drove the Avensis, qualifying 23rd on the grid, finishing 14th overall in the first race and 4th overall in the Sprint race. [26]
In 2018, Sam Randon and Michael Crees drove the Avensis again in the night races at Brands Hatch. They qualified 14th on the grid for the race, but retired from the first race due to mechanical issues. They managed to move up from the back of the grid and finished 3rd overall in the Endurance race.
Paul O'Neill is a British auto racing driver, and the half-brother of English singer Melanie C.
The 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was the 54th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Next Generation Touring Car, also known as NGTC and by its Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) designation TCN-1, is an FIA and TOCA specification and classification for production based race cars. The specification covers national level touring car racing. The goal of the limited choices in engines and parts in the NGTC classification is to allow more manufacturers and privateers to race by reducing the cost of a competitive car and to reduce reliance on the increasingly expensive Super 2000 equipment. The only significant differences between different models is the external body shells and the use of front- or rear-wheel drive; the suspension, brakes and transmissions are common to all cars, and engines are of uniform performance.
Anthony Allen Gilham is a British racing driver. He is the founder and owner of Team HARD. Racing, who currently compete in various championships including the British Touring Car Championship.
The 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It is one of the most popular domestic motor racing series in the United Kingdom, with an extensive program of support categories built up around the BTCC centrepiece. It was the 55th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
John Barnaby Thorne is a British businessman and racing driver. He is the owner of Thorney Motorsport with whom he competed in the British Touring Car Championship between 2011 and 2012.
Adam William Morgan is a British racing driver. He currently competes in the British Touring Car Championship for Team BMW.
The 2013 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of Family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It is one of the most popular domestic motor racing series in the United Kingdom, with an extensive program of support categories built up around the BTCC centrepiece. It was the 56th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Robb Holland is an American racing driver who has competed in several international racing series. Most notably the British Touring Car Championship where in 2014, Holland became the first American driver in history to compete full-time in the series driving Rotek Racing's Audi S3. Holland is also the first American ever to compete in the World Touring Car Championship when he drove for Bamboo Engineering in the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of the United States at Sonoma Raceway, California.
Jack Alan Goff is a British racing driver. He was the 2012 Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom champion. He made his debut in the British Touring Car Championship on 31 March 2013 at Brands Hatch, driving for RCIB Insurance Racing. The 2017 and 2018 British Touring Car Championship seasons saw Jack driving for Eurotech Racing in a Honda Civic Type R.
Warren George Scott is a British racing driver. He has previously competed in the British Touring Car Championship with his self-run Team BMR. He has also raced in the British Superbike Championship.
Aiden Robert Moffat is a British racing driver currently competing in the British Touring Car Championship for LKQ Euro Car Parts with SYNETIQ. He became the youngest driver ever to compete in the BTCC when he made his debut at the Knockhill round of the 2013 season.
Kieran Gallagher is a British racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship with Team HARD. In 2013 Gallagher competed in the British Touring Car Championship for the first time at Knockhill, driving for Team HARD in a Vauxhall Insignia NGTC. After a season back in the wagen Racing Cup with Team HARD he remained with the team for their return to the BTCC in 2015
The 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of Family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It is one of the most popular domestic motor racing series in the United Kingdom, with an extensive program of support categories built up around the BTCC centrepiece. It was the 57th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season.
Team BMR was a British motor racing team based in Buntingford, Hertfordshire and founded by Warren Scott. The team raced in the British Touring Car Championship between 2013 and 2019 after previously entering the 2004 British Superbike Championship season as BMR Racing. During the winter of 2013, Scott purchased Tony Gilham Racing's assets, including their four NGTC race cars.
The 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2015 season was the 58th British Touring Car Championship season and the fifth season for cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) specification.
The 2016 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2016 season was the 59th British Touring Car Championship season and the sixth season for cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) technical specification. Gordon Shedden successfully defended his title and equaled long-time team mate Matt Neal as a three time Champion.
William Powell is a British racing driver and businessman. He is the founder of motorsports business Sport77 and formerly the racing team Motus One. He raced in the British Touring Car Championship for Starline Racing in 2023 and for Autobrite Direct with JourneyHero in 2022. He previously raced for the Brabham Motorsport team and won the 2021 British Endurance Championship in a McLaren GT3.
The 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which are sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2017 season was the 60th British Touring Car Championship season and the seventh season for cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) technical specification.
The 2018 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship was a motor racing championship for production-based touring cars held across England and Scotland. It was sponsored by Dunlop. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of family cars which were sold to the general public and conform to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2018 season was the 61st British Touring Car Championship season and the eighth season for cars conforming to the Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) technical specification. The 2018 season also marked the 60th anniversary since the series’ introduction.