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MARK HOWARD RE-ENTERED THE RACING SCENE
IN 2013 IN THE VW RACING CUP BUT THIS YEAR HE
JOINED THE NEWLY FORMED TEAM BKR ALONGSIDE
ÁRÓN SMITH IN THE BRITISH TOURING CAR
CHAMPIONSHIP. MSD CATCHES UP WITH HIM TO FIND
OUT WHAT FUELS HIS ADDICTION TO MOTORSPORT.
RACING
ADDICT
032
R O A D
T R A C K
R A C E
S U M M E R 2 0 1 6
H
oward’s career began
back in 1989 and after a
few years at a race
school, he entered into the Renault
5 Turbo Championship, the equiv-
alent of today’s Clio Cup. Howard
has raced with some of the top
names in motorsport and a num-
ber stood out to him back then. He
says: “The Renault 5s were what
the Clios are today and we were
surrounded by the top names like
Andy Rouse, Will Hoy and Andy
Souper – it was fantastic to see
them race. Even Mika Häkkinen
was in the Formula 3s that raced
on the same weekends. So to see
guys stand out from the pack like
that is quite inspiring.”
Despite going on to win the Re-
nault 5 Championship, Howard is
very aware of where his strengths
lie. He says: “I never had that abil-
ity to stand out from the pack, but
my skills are hard work and deter-
mination. I’ve not seen someone
stand out from the crowd as much
as Ash Sutton did at Croft when he
dominated the wet race. He was
on a different path and it’s once in
a decade a driver like that comes
along.”
As with many drivers, it was
money that held Howard back
from following his dream, as he
explains: “It was great fun but ob-
viously I wanted to get into tour-
ing cars. I just couldn’t afford it
so once I won the championship I
had to call it a day. It was a shame
as I had more ability back then.”
‘I COULDN’T AFFORD TO
DO IT’
During his time in the Renault 5
Championship, Howard ran with
two teams. He says: “I was run
by a guy called Pete Banahan who
was an ex-rally driver and who ran
me for the first year or two, and
then I went across to Mark Fish
Motorsport in Harlow and went
onto to win the championship in
1993. After that, I couldn’t afford
to do it and had to pay back all the
money I owed for the racing in my
winning year.”
Howard knew that if he was going
to stop racing he had to do it prop-
erly. He says: “I gave up racing and
got into work so I could pay every-
one off. I then tried to stay away
from it - a bit like an addict. I love
motorsport so much and I knew I
had to stay away. Funnily enough,
though, it all started again when I
got invited to watch racing then on
a Sunday and then on the Monday
I bought a VW race car. I guess I
should have realised what would
happen.”
After his 18-year hiatus, Howard
went into the VW Racing Cup, but
an accident at Snetterton could
have ended his career for good. He
explains: “As I say, I have to work
really hard at being competitive. I
wouldn’t say I am a natural tal-
ent and because of that you make
mistakes and push the car a lit-
tle too hard. I had a major roll at
Snetterton where the car went over
seven times and it wouldn’t stop.
I thought that would be the end of
racing for me.”
ACHIEVING A DREAM
Of course, it wasn’t long before
Howard was getting in a race car
again. He says: “Mid-way through
the season in 2012 or ‘13 I thought
I’d knock it on the head as I didn’t
have the ability. Then my team-
mate from the VW Cup started
in the Clio Cup. He said I had to