Massive news today for all fans of Team HARD. as they announce that they will returning to the MSA Dunlop British Touring Car Championship.

Team owner Tony Gilham was delighted to confirm that the team will be back for 2015 in the premier racing series.

Speaking exclusively to Kent Sports News, Tony said: “We have managed to find our way back, it was obviously on our radar it is what we wanted to do.

“That is what the plans were and we have been working on it for a long time, it was very tough at times last year to be almost sitting on the side lines with a small amount of input. We have found our way back, as we stand here today it is a one car and one licence, we are hoping that as of next week that we should be able to finalise a deal that makes us a two car team.”

Whether it is one car or two on the grid for Tony and the team the hard work starts now as they look to prepare for the season opener in April at Brands Hatch, with Kieran Gallagher confirmed as being the first driver.

He added: “We are very close with our driver line-up as well, so the VW Cup we are pretty much sorted and we have one car left and lots of people want to fill the seat, but we have to choose the right driver line-up for us.

“Then obviously for the touring cars we have one confirmed and we are talking to a few more, once the news officially comes out of what we are doing then no doubt there will be lots more interest, but we will see how that progresses.”

It is clear from social media over the winter that the fans have missed having Tony and Team HARD involved with the BTCC.

“We have got a very good following, we interact with them regularly and we talk to them all the time. A lot of my time is spent talking to the public and the fans and trying to keep them involved as much as possible, we wouldn’t be there without them.

“We are a very small family team, we haven’t got a lot of fulltime staff, it is very difficult financially but the more support that we have got the better. We welcome it, we love interacting with them via social networking and in person, and it is a big part of what we do.”

2015 is clearly going to be a massive year for Team HARD. and Tony is determined to see his team succeed again.

He said: “It is very busy and it is important to get the work ethic in place, we have got good and very loyal people around us, which is going to make it more straightforward. It is never going to be easy, with some very hard work.

“We have some new sponsors on board, we have a few new staff joining us and a couple of new drivers coming in, so it is leading to what we think is going to be a very exciting year. It is going to be one that is massively productive and set a foundation to build on.”

Tony is realistic about his team’s chances upon their return to the BTCC and isn’t setting any targets that he doesn’t think he will be able to achieve.

He added: “It moves on every year, and whilst I was there or there about I wasn’t in control of anything and it was very much like being on the side lines. I got to see the evolution and every year it moves forward, every year drivers improve, teams improve and parts change.

“We are expecting it to be a tough year ahead, we aren’t expecting to go and blitz the championship, we have set some very realistic targets with the drivers we have got coming in we believe we are going to be able to do a very solid job this year. Then there is the plan for us to build our own new cars again to bring in for 2016.”

Being back in the BTCC puts Team HARD. back in the public eye and Tony is hoping that they can build upon that.

“It has been tough over the winter as we haven’t really known what is going on, there is a massive buzz around touring cars as always and finding our way back in has been very tough. Even as we sit here today, we haven’t confirmed what we are doing and we can’t really talk about what we are doing, to talk to drivers and to talk to sponsors and to talk to people that are going to be working with us.

“It has been a difficult because there is only so many people that you can tell without giving the game away, it has been tough and it is a massive jump financially. There are a lot of bigger teams with access to bigger finances, but it is not just about that it is about the work that you put into it as well.

“We are not shy of hard work, we know it is going to be a tough year, we are going to do the best job that we can and we are going to look to build. Obviously the long term future and the long term plan is to keep building and then we can be pushing as far up that grid as possible. Yes from the start but definitely by the end of the season and then looking beyond that the end target is going to be mixing at the front with the bigger teams.”