Andy Wilmot is back behind the wheel in 2018 racing in the Renault UK Clio Cup as part of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship support package.

This time he will be undertaking a slightly different role as he races but also is a director of new team Matrix Motorsport.

Speaking about the season ahead, Andy said: “2018 will most definitely be a big year, not only for me but for all the directors of Matrix and our drivers. Fortunately I don’t have to manage the team that’s down to our team manager David Hayes

“I’m very pleased to be back out on track especially in a Clio and in the TOCA paddock, it’s the only place to be in UK Motorsport. It is most definitely where the action is.”

Andy is pleased to be able to go racing for a full season, and in such a competitive series as the Clio Cup.

He added: “I’ve not raced a full season since I started racing! There has always be something that has come up, whether it was a family issue, budget problems or an offer to drive in another series half way through the season I just have not been consistent!

“Since my awful season in the BTCC 2015 I fell out of love with the sport and took a back seat but the opportunity to build and become a director of Matrix Motorsport came about and with the chance to compete in a full season of the Clio Cup 2018.

“Everything came together very fast and before we knew it we had our infrastructure in place and testing booked up pre 2018 season. I feel the testing I have done has been invaluable, I was very rusty but getting back on the pace has been fun. There is a way to go yet but I will be using this year as a learning year and who knows I could be a Championship contender in 2019.”

Matrix Motorsport have quite a stellar line-up for 2018, and that is testament to the hard work that the team has put in that they can attract the drivers that they have.

“I’m really pleased with the driver line-up we have this year. Mike Epps has raced two years in the BTCC and since testing the Clio has shown excellent pace, I would say he is a real championship contender for this year.

“Aaron is a Fiesta champion and raced in the Clio up last year. He also has showed excellent pace in testing and is feeling confident in achieving impressive results. Jeff (team principal) has raced in a few club series and decided to make the jump to the Clio’s, he agrees it’s a challenge but most certainly is looking forward to making progress throughout the season, he had made amazing progress and has completely changed his driving style to adapt to the Clio and get the best from the car and himself.”

The cars were out on track recently at the media day for the launch of the Renault UK Clio Cup, and the results were good, not that Andy is reaching too much into them.

He added: “As much as I would like to use the media day time sheets as where we will stand roughly thought the year, I just can’t! There is always the possibility of drivers holding back as they don’t want to give the other drivers any idea of their potential. However the times and positions our drivers achieved at media day were a welcome result.

“My personal target for the season is to finish the championship in the top 10, which is a fair target for me. I don’t set personal targets to high as I don’t want to add pressure to myself. However, I have big hopes for the team, I would hope one of our drivers finish in the top three in the championship this year.”

The team have brought in David Hayes to strengthen the technical side of the team to ensure that they are as strong as they can be, Andy explains how that came about.

He said: “David Hayes is a very close friend of mine and I wanted him in the team because he has a huge amount of knowledge of racing not only in BTCC but he started over 17 years ago in the TOCA Package and has run some of the fan favourites in almost every series.

“He has lots of Clio experience from his long term stay at TCR (Total Control Racing). I have no doubt with experience of Dave and the engineers he has appointed for us we have a very strong Team.”

Having been on the side-lines for a while Andy is pleased to be able to get out there and go racing, even though he attends a lot of race meetings as a fan.

“Even when I’m not racing I go to almost every BTCC event to spectate and when I’m there all I want to do is compete!! There is nothing worse than sitting on the side line.

“It takes a lot of hard work and commitment to raise the funds to be out there racing and as a passionate driver if you’re watching and not racing you feel like you’ve failed but you can never give up trying year after year to raise that budget to live the dream.

“It’s now a dream come true for me to finally own part of a team and compete during 2018 in the best one make championship in the country.”

Images courtesy of PSP Images and Darren Hurrell