Photo: PSP Images, Triple Eight

Tony Gilham joins James Nash at Triple Eight

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Tony Gilham will step up from the Porsche Carrera Cup GB to the BTCC, joining James Nash at Triple Eight Race Engineering for the 2011 season.

Gilham finished in ninth place in the standings in the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup support championship, where he has raced for the past three years, two of those years with his ReDesign Racing team, and one with Redline Racing.

The 31-year old from Dartford said:
“The BTCC is something I’ve wanted to do for an awful long time. I had opportunities to go with several other teams. However, following the withdrawal of a sponsor who had a big interest in a certain marque one of the offers had to be ruled one out. Nevertheless, and with all due respect to all of the other offers once I’d heard of Triple Eight’s interest in me and met with their management team, my mind was made up.”

“Decisions like these are never easy to make, but I’m sure that by working with Triple Eight it will help me gain the knowledge and experience necessary for a
successful BTCC campaign.”

“I can’t wait now for Brands Hatch and the first round. It’s my local track too so I know that they’ll be a lot of support”.

Gilham is now the second driver confirmed at Triple Eight, and the fourth confirmed Vauxhall Vectra on the grid after the two Pirtek Racing cars.

“I am pleased to welcome Tony to the team,” said Triple Eight Chairman Ian Harrison.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on a number of drivers running outside of the BTCC for a little while now and Tony was one of those who caught the eye. I’m sure he’ll settle into things very quickly and surprise a few people too.”

Triple Eight have been expanding their race programmes in the UK, with recent announcements that they will enter two cars in both the Porsche Carrera Cup and the new Ginetta GT Supercup for this year.

The winner of the 2011 Ginetta Supercup receives a full season’s drive in the BTCC in 2012, similar to the incentive offered in the SEAT Cupra Championship in 2003-2004 which gave Rob Huff & James Pickford their first BTCC opportunities.