Kent’s Team HARD Racing have announced Carl Boardley will be their third driver in next year’s British Touring Car Championship.

Following the conclusion of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship 2018 – Kent’s incredibly popular BTCC Team HARD. have certainly not let things stand idle with extensive redevelopment of their VW CC 2018 BTCC Chargers already underway and following on from the re–signing of 2018 drivers Mike Bushell and Bobby Thompson comes the third announcement in their driver line up for 2019 in the shape of 2018 Ginettta GT4 Supercup Championship Runner–up, Carl Boardley.

Boardley will be taking a seat in one of their striking VW CC’s following successful test Days and a one–off outing in the 2018 BTCC at Knockhill to evaluate both himself and a Team HARD. car at this highest level of UK Motorsport.

Boardley has never made any secret that he would like to compete in the BTCC Series as shown live on ITV4, should the right Drive and backing become available at the right time and this will give him a chance to show his immense race craft and experience in a different machine to his National Hot Rods.

Boardley commented, “I am delighted to have committed to Team HARD. for the 2019 season in BTCC. After running with the team in GT4 Supercup throughout this year I have got to know all of the team really well, I feel comfortable in the surroundings and believe we have a good ‘fit’ together”.

“Having made my BTCC debut at Knockhill this year it gave me a real taste of what the championship is all about and made me hungry for a lot, lot more. The team have made some major improvements to the car and infrastructure over the last couple of months which is ongoing and I believe things are in a strong position for 2019”.

“I am under no illusions as to the size of the task ahead as this championship is the pinnacle but I’m super excited to get started and aim to hit the ground running at Brands Hatch for round 1. I must say a massive thanks to everyone who has played a part in making this happen and to my family for their continued support”.

Tony Gilham, head of Team Hard is equally enthusiastic about the signing, “Carl is a great addition to our driver line up and not only brings a wealth of experience and pace, but has a very good understanding of the car in terms of set up and performance. He will bring the necessary on track qualities we are looking for as well as add a massive amount off track with our whole set up and all new infrastructure we now have in place. We are on exactly the same page as eachother when it comes to what we expect as a team this year and our goals we have set in the championship for the year ahead. We cannot wait to get going and see how Carl develops as a BTCC driver and this is not a short-term plan for either of us. The start of the season cannot come soon enough and we already have many plans in place so we can arrive at Brands Hatch in April in the best shape possible”

Following a highly successful National Hot Rod Racing career which saw Boardley net four consecutive World Titles from 2006 – 09, Boardley went on to compete in Pick – Ups with great success and competed in the 2016/17 Ginetta Supercup campaign, technically as a privateer, which saw him take wins at Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Snetterton with multiple podium finishes along the way. This had to be balanced with heading up the Boardley Roberts Family business and developing the very successful Ginetta National Hot Rod with Boardley Motorsport.

For the 2018 championship, Team HARD looked after the day to day running of the Boardley GT4 machine which proved a very successful association with Boardley, who took Multi Podium finishes all Series long in 2018 including a triple – win at the Croft Round – eventually seeing the Suffolk Businessman finish runner – up to Charlie Ladell in the Series.