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Shawyer, who has been working season-long with the Warwickshire squad as mechanic for British-born Bahraini driver Menasheh Idafar, will boost Russell Racing’s entry to a three-car line-up in the headline FR2000 Class competing alongside 16-year-old Idafar and Manchester 24-year-old Mark Gillibrand.

 

Speaking ahead of the weekend’s action, Shawyer said: “I’m really pleased to be given the opportunity to race at Oulton Park by Matt and Tim at Russell Racing and I’m looking forward to proving our cars can run strongly at the front. My aim is to reward the team with a strong result on Saturday, I’m confident we’ll have something to celebrate.”

 

As a former BRDC Single-Seater Champion and podium finisher in Formula Renault BARC and the Asian Formula Renault Championship, Shawyer is unquestionably one of the country’s most talented young drivers but his career has unfortunately stuttered during recent seasons due to budget restrictions.

 

Last year the Hertfordshire ace was only able to contest four Formula Renault BARC events with Russell Racing but his finishing record was impressive, second place on his category debut at Silverstone during round one backed-up by a further podium in round two at Snetterton, a brace of results which lifted him to the top of the driver standings.

 

Shawyer also entered into a one-off race in the Asian Formula Renault Championship last year, an encounter which went extremely well and saw him finish a highly creditable second on his Far Eastern debut, defeating 2006 Formula Renault UK Champion Sebastian Hohenthal in the process.

 

Since the Thruxton round of the 2006 Formula Renault BARC series, Shawyer hasn’t driven competitively in a single-seater with his sole outing in a Formula Renault coming with Russell Racing during a general test day at Donington Park, Leicestershire, in early April this year.

 

Saturday’s 12th round of the current Formula Renault BARC campaign will offer Shawyer a great chance to prove his credentials once more at the wheel of a single-seater and although it will undoubtedly be a tough challenge to be at the sharp end immediately, the team is confident his pace and experience will shine through.

 

“We wanted to give Matt the opportunity to race at Oulton Park this weekend as a thank you from the team for all of the hard work he has put in during 2007”, said Russell Racing’s Matt Russell, “Not only has Matt been a key part of the team, he’s a great friend too and we’re confident he’ll go very well on Saturday. We’re really looking forward to it.”

 

The final round of the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Championship will take place at Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire this Saturday, 29th September.