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drive one as they’re so much fun.
So that was me back in it again.”
Single-make championships can
be very competitive and having
raced in the Renault 5 Champion-
ship it made sense to Howard to
give the Clio Cup a go. He says:
“For me it was a romantic notion
to have another crack at it with
Renault and see what I could do.
The great thing about single-make
racing is that it is all down to the
driver and how he sets up the car.
I like to know other people are in
the same machinery. It’s a profes-
sional package and it is well run
with a good crowd and great TV
coverage for sponsors.”
Despite having the dream from a
young age of becoming a touring
car driver, the reality actually hap-
pened very quickly. “I was doing
a Snetterton test in a Clio and on
the way back I had a call from BKR
offering me the drive,” Howard
explains. “It came so suddenly
and it was a matter of just four or
five weeks until the press day so
it was manic. The cars were in a
barn and in five weeks they got
them ready for the launch.
“I got into the Volkwagen Passat CC
at Brands Hatch and it was a baptism
of fire. I was a nervous wreck! I got
tapped into a spin and then I man-
aged to spin myself. The tyres are
very different to what I was used to in
the Clios and I didn’t manage to get
enough heat into them. At this point I
thought the dream had turned into a
nightmare and I got taken out in race
three, too. Thankfully, race two was
calmer.”
Once the first race weekend was
out of the way, Howard could focus
on what he had achieved. He says:
“After wanting to do it for decades, to
actually sit in a touring car on the grid
when the lights go out is an amazing
experience. I’m learning so much
every time we are out but those first
days were very intense.”
It’s quite a clear step on the
motorsport ladder to go from Clios
to touring cars but the racing is
very different, as Howard explains:
“The cars are more physical to
drive and the intensity is so much
greater than anything I’ve experi-
enced before. When I race it’s as
a family and I have time for them,
but now on a Saturday I don’t see
them from 7am until 9pm and then
and there are a lot of nice people
in the paddock so that gets a big
thumbs up.”
There’s a lot of trading paint that
happens in touring cars and some
would go as far as to say that it’s
too aggressive. Howard agrees: “It
is aggressive, if I’m honest. I have
done five race weekends and man-
aged to complete two races. But
there are lot of things that happen
in the opening lap that I’ve not
experienced before that seem to
be expected.”
This year is all about learning
and development for Howard,
on a Sunday not until the evening.
You are either on the track, with
your engineer or fulfilling sponsor-
ship duties, so that is a different
challenge.
“As I haven’t had a lot of seat
time, I’ve been doing my learning
at the race weekends. For exam-
ple, there is a specific start routine
you go through and the only times
I have practised it is literally as
the lights go out. So that is not
brilliant if you want to be at the
top of your game. But I’m in it
and loving it. I would never miss
the opportunity so that’s why I
grabbed it. The racing is frenetic
and he’s remaining realistic about
next year. He concludes with: “I’m
learning the car and running with-
out the RML suspension, which
everyone else has. This is delib-
erate as it benefits the learning
curve I am on. Next year is about
getting some points and the fol-
lowing year I’ll maximise on that
experience.
“Árón [Smith] is a race winner
and got on the podium this year. It’s
a shame he’s not up there consist-
ently. The team is a great bunch of
people and we are pushing as hard
as we can while being realistic.”