Ashley Seward Motorsport takes on 16-year-old for TCR Australia campaign
Young 16-year-old driver Jay Hanson will make his tin-top debut next year in the TCR Australia series after Ashley Seward Motorsport announced the schoolboy will join them for their 2020 championship assault.
Fresh out of the Australian Formula Ford Championship, finishing seventh in 2019, Hanson’s first crack at touring car racing will come aboard one of ASM’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR machines next year, joining the team which is expanding from one to three cars in their second year of competition.
Hanson will be driving the Alfa Romeo which Dylan O’Keeffe campaigned in the inaugural TCR Australia season, taking two poles and four wins en route to fifth in the championship, despite having five retirements throughout the year.
Despite it being his first year in a fierce competition, Hanson says he’s looking forward to the challenge and hopes to be in contention for a top three finish late in the season.
“It’s awesome to join forces with Ashley Seward Motorsport in the Alfa Romeo,” saidHanson.
“I can’t wait for season 2020 and some of the great racing that we’ve seen in TCR Australia.
“There’s going to be pressure on myself to at least finish in the top 10 for the year, but hopefully we can be in a position to get some podiums by the end of the year.
“TCR is a worldwide category, and there’s many places to go after the Australian Series. Eventually, I’d like to move overseas and race there, and the rookie prize to get a test with an international team is absolutely awesome.”
Team owner Ashley Seward says he’s excited for Hanson to join his squad after the young gun completed a successful evaluation day with them, adding that the final pieces in the puzzle for 2020 will be revealed soon.
“It’s really exciting to have Jay join us for our TCR program in the Alfa Romeo,” said Ashley Seward.
“He did an exceptionally good job in Formula Ford, and we had an evaluation day and he did a great job in the car.
“The power to weight ratio of a Formula Ford to a TCR are very similar, so I reckon from what we’ve seen with him, there’s no reason why he can’t be challenging for podium finishes.”
“In terms of securing our other drivers, there’s lots happening behind the scenes. This year has been challenging – we have good car speed but we need to dot our I’s and cross our T’s with a couple of aspects, but it was really a learning year.
“We’re talking to lots of people about 2020, so stay tuned.”
A driver evaluation day will take place at Winton tomorrow, allowing Hanson to have another steer of the Italian machine.
