UK: Hillspeed enters Winter Series with Howard Fuller

FULLER JOINS WAGNER AT HILLSPEED FOR RENAULT WINTER SERIES

Reigning Formula Renault BARC Championship winning team Hillspeed is delighted to announce a two car entry into the 2010 winter series which gets underway at Snetterton in Norfolk this coming Saturday, 6th November, and concludes at Pembrey in South Wales just a week later.

Glasgow-based karting graduate David Wagner will be joined by Formula Palmer Audi front-runner Howard Fuller for the six-race campaign -- the first two rounds of which will be held at Snetterton with the final four being contested at Pembrey alongside the Ginetta Junior Winter Series.

Fuller, who resides in Worcester Park near Kingston upon Thames, graduated from karting to car racing in 2007 at the tender age of 15 in the now defunct T-Car Championship before moving into single-seaters a year later in the Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy where he was eighth overall.

Contesting the main FPA season in 2009, the Surrey racer returned to the category this year where he concluded the championship seventh in the driver standings with two top sixes, nine top eight results and four other top 10 finishes to his credit. The 18-year-old also contested four races in the 2010 Volkswagen Racing Cup where he took a superb maiden race win in only his second outing.

For 17-year-old Wagner, the Formula Renault BARC Winter Championship will be his maiden car racing experience. In 2005 the Scottish youngster became the British NKRA Karting Champion in Honda Cadet before winning the Junior TKM West of Scotland Championship and Scottish Open Championship the following year.

More success came in 2007 with the Junior Blue Scottish Open title and victory in the NKRA finals, while a move into the ultra-competitive Stars of Tomorrow KF3 Championship in 2008 brought with it numerous race wins and fastest laps. Graduating to KF2 the following year, Wagner was a genuine front-runner although his racing programme was reduced this year due to school exams.

"We're very much looking forward to working with David and Howard during the winter series", said Hillspeed team principal Richard Ollerenshaw, "It's undoubtedly going to be a big learning curve for David as it's his first experience in cars, and it will be a step-up for Howard too, but we're confident we'll have a strong campaign."

Hillspeed has an enviable record in the winter series having taken Richard Singleton to the outright UK title in 2007 and then guiding James Theodore to the BARC crown the following year, the latter taking three wins from the four races contested. In addition, newcomer Joseph Reilly became the highest placed rookie at the wheel of one of the Derbyshire team's cars in the 2009 championship.

Morris gunning for Ginetta Junior winter success with Hillspeed Alongside its Formula Renault BARC bid, Hillspeed will field a single-car entry in the Ginetta Junior Winter Series at Pembrey on 13th/14th November for outstanding 14-year-old Seb Morris.

Having won the main 2010 title with Tom Ingram last month, the Hathersage squad will now mount an assault on the Ginetta Junior Winter Championship with Marford teenager Morris who excelled on his debut in cars this year with Hillspeed and made headlines with a sensational maiden podium.

Delivering performances and pace far belying his minimal experience, the Welsh-born racer most certainly marked himself out as a hugely exciting prospect this year in Ginetta Junior and he has a very realistic chance of enjoying further success a couple of weeks from now.

In his first weekend of car racing at Thruxton at the beginning of April, Morris took a 12th place finish on his debut before taking a top eight result at Rockingham just three weeks later. Kicking off the second half of the championship superbly with a then career best of sixth position at Snetterton, the Kings School student eclipsed the result with fourth at Knockhill and then third at Donington Park.

Ollerenshaw added: "Seb delivered some tremendous performances in Ginetta Junior this year and we're delighted he's staying on board with us for the winter series. He has a huge amount of talent and speed and he stands a very good chance of doing well at Pembrey -- we're looking forward to it."

Following Hillspeed's double championship success in Formula Renault BARC and Ginetta Junior this year, the team is pleased to report a high level of interest from drivers in relation to winter testing in both categories and also with regard to race deals for 2011.

-source: hillspeed.co.uk