Team HARD have today announced that Tom Barley will be racing in the final round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend.

Whilst Tom might not be a familiar name in the BTCC world as it will be his debut in the season finale in the series, he is a regular in the VW Cup for Team Hard.

Kent Sports News have followed Tom’s progress this season and this has proved to be a fruitful relationship as we supported him in his test day in the BTCC car last week at Brands Hatch. We will also be supporting Tom on his BTCC debut this weekend.

Speaking about being given the opportunity to fulfil a lifetime dream, Tom said “The car is the most incredible machine I’ve ever driven and my two test days have gone really well,”

“I’ve loved every minute of it and I plan to do the same this weekend. Of course it’s important that it’s an enjoyable weekend for my guests and me but I also need to show what I can do. It will be a hard task but I’d love to score some points. It’s a toe in the water for 2014 so three solid races would be fantastic.”

“I’m very very excited,” concluded Barley. “It has been my ambition to race in the BTCC for a long time so I just want to seize the opportunity. The Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit is such a great track, plus it’s my local venue so I’ll have loads of family and friends there. It’s a circuit that requires full commitment, plus it’s fast and flowing like Spa. I seem to go well at places like that so I can’t wait to get out there.”

It also goes to show that Team Principal Tony Gilham is not afraid to put his faith in young up and coming drivers and give them their opportunity to race in the pinnacle of four wheel motorsport.

Talking about the opportunity that Tom has been given, Tony said “Tom is the full package – both in and out of the car – which you have to have now. Not only is he an extremely quick driver but he’s also a consummate professional and knows how to carry himself aside from racing. He has really progressed over the course of the year and deserves this opportunity.”

“He was on the pace straight away last week, which was great,” commented the Team HARD boss. “This is hopefully just the beginning for Tom, and what better way to showcase your talents to sponsors and investors than to race in the final rounds of the BTCC.”

Last week Kent Sports News was afforded some unique behind the scenes access thanks to Tom Barley and Team HARD.

Kent Sports News have been following Tom’s progress throughout the season in the VW Cup with Team HARD. In that time we have struck-up a good rapport and this led to the unique opportunity to accompany him and the team on their test session at Brands Hatch.

When we arrived at Brands Hatch at 9:30am the team had already been hard at work for more than an hour with Tony Gilham and his band of extremely skilled mechanics preparing both Tom’s care and that of Aiden Moffat who was testing ahead of the next race.

It was clear from when we arrived that the garages on a race day are a hive of activity, whilst they were busy preparing for the day ahead, there was a sense that it was far more relaxed for obvious reasons than a race weekend.

There was clearly a need to get Tom out on the track to maximise his test time ahead of his debut weekend, testing allows the team and the driver to assess the car set-up and ensure that they go into the race weekend with as best a set-up as they can to ensure Tom had the best chances of a good finish.

If his lap times which we won’t reveal are anything to go by then Tom is certainly a name to watch out for in the BTCC as they were quick and consistent. Aiden Moffat was also in the same bracket as Tom and is also a name for the future.

The day wasn’t without incident though for Tom who had a few issues whilst out on the track, which meant that the excellent team of mechanics were called into action. However, we have not seen a team of mechanics get a car turned round and back out on the track in such a quick time.

This is why the team has such a good reputation up and down the pit lane for getting cars back out on track quickly and efficiently. They are a welcoming team who like to make you feel part of the team and briefing you on what they are doing.

Obviously we can’t say too much because we don’t want to give away Tony Gilham’s secrets or come to that the lines that Tom was taking around the laps that he was driving. Although it was a test session, Tom was trying a number of different settings to see which one suited his driving style best, and the only way to do that is to drive flat out, and there was certainly evidence of driving flat-out on many laps.

It was an excellent opportunity to spend the day behind the scenes with an excellent Team with a family like atmosphere. Tom is a likeable driver who is willing to go that extra mile to make sure that we were informed of what was going on, explaining the settings being used and the control panels in the car and what each one does.

We were delighted to be afforded the opportunity to support Tom and Team HARD on his debut test session, and are even more pleased that we can continue that partnership for the BTCC finale at Brands Hatch this weekend.

There will be more on that and some exciting opportunities for motorsport fans across Kent to get involved too. If you are a fan of motorsport and haven’t ever been to a BTCC race weekend, we thoroughly recommend it.