Stewart Lines steps back into BTCC seat

Stewart Lines will return to the grid from the sixth round of the season at Snetterton at the wheel of his Team Parker with Maximum Ford Focus.

Lines elected to stand down from his drive at the start of the season having agreed a deal to run Josh Cook, but then saw Cook depart following the Oulton Park race weekend to return to Triple Eight.

Maximum drafted in Swedish driver Dennis Strandberg for the Croft meeting as a one-off before looking to bring in a full-time replacement for the remainder of the season.

Despite talking to a number of drivers, no deal was struck – leaving Lines, who took part in the two day test at Snetterton earlier this month, electing to return to the track himself for the five meetings still to run.

“We tried to make it work with a younger driver, and I thought the summer break would have given us time to find another racer with some budget, but that hasn’t been the case,” he said. “Rather than being left high and dry, the best option was for me to do the rest of the year to make sure we can fulfil our commitment to be on the grid.”