Honda Integra for Lea Wood in 2010
Former Renault Clio Cup racer Lea Wood will join the BTCC next season, in a Honda Integra run by his family team. Team Wood will run Lea in an ex-Gareth Howell Integra, as the 25-year-old makes the step up from Clio Cup and Silhouette racing.
In 2008 Wood competed in the BTCC supporting Renault Clio Cup, ending the season 16th in the standings, with a best finish of second at Oulton Park. The Hereford driver joined the series after winning the BRSCC Super Silhouette championship a year previously, at the wheel of a Vauxhall Tigra VXR.
Lea’s brother Greg will run the car, with assistance from former Silhouette and Hot Rod champion Dave Longhurst, who will be team manager for the squad.
Speaking to Motorsport News, Greg Wood said, “We have already got the car and we have stripped it down ready to start testing in the New Year. We were looking at a BTCC car that proved unsuitable, but that got the ball rolling and we came across the Integra.
“With the works teams leaving the BTCC, there has never been a better time for a team like ours to get involved with the championship.”
In 2009, three Honda Integra’s ran in the BTCC. TH Motorsport and John George campaigned a sole machine, with Techspeed ran two cars for Martyn Bell and Paul O’Neill. The BTC specification Integra joined the series in 2005, with Matt Neal piloting the model to a brace of series’ crowns.
