Clio graduate prepares for debut campaign.
Michael Doyle has admitted that his move into the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship in its 50th anniversary season will be the realisation of a dream.
The 20-year-old Scot moves up to the BTCC having spent the past three seasons competing in the Renault Clio Cup, with a best finish of fourth in the 2006 standings and a maiden win at Snetterton last season.
Having originally planned to run with the same Roberstshaw Racing team that ran him in the Clio Cup, Doyle has instead elected to go it alone after forming his own In-Tune Racing squad - which includes former Synchro Motorsport engineer Andy Scott.
His experience will be key as the team comes to grips with running the ex-Mark Proctor Honda Civic Type-R and Doyle said the experience Scott brings will be vital to his chances for the season ahead.
"We got the car at the end of last season and originally we planned to run with Robertshaw," he told Crash.net. "Then we thought about it and decided that it would be better financially to run ourselves as we would be guaranteed two years in the BTCC. We got Andy Scott onboard to lead the engineering side of things and have got some mechanics who I worked with and some that he wanted, so the pieces of the jigsaw have fallen into place. It's just a case of getting out on track and bringing on the first race.
"Andy's experience is priceless. Okay, we have set-up data from when Arena ran the car, but you need someone with experience who knows what needs to be done. Hopefully his experience will rub off onto the rest of the team and that will put us in good stead for the season."
Doyle is due to start his testing programme next month as he prepares for his debut at Brands Hatch and he added that he couldn't wait to hit the track with the likes of Fabrizio Giovanardi, Jason Plato and Matt Neal - admitting that he wouldn't be scared to try and mix it with the best.
"The main thing we are looking for is consistency and to gradually get better," he said, "but I'm not scared of a nudge and bump after three years in Clios when it got more and more aggressive. Between the start of the year and the end of the year, I want to see a massive improvement in myself and I feel that the team is good enough with the personnel we have brought in. I'm looking forward to racing against the best - and especially racing against Tom Onslow-Cole as we raced together on karts and Clios but its been a few years now!
"There is nothing bigger or better than British Touring Cars. I've only been racing for eight years and to go from karts to the BTCC in that time is unbelievable. I take my hat off to my dad for helping me to achieve my dream, it's all I've wanted to do since I was young and this season I get to live my dream."
