RUSSELL SIGNS SHAWYER & BLOSS FOR BARC SEASON OPENERRussell Racing aims to begin the 2006 Formula Renault BARC season in winning ways at Silverstone this Saturday having agreed a late deal with former BRDC Single-Seater Champion Matt Shawyer for the opening round of the year.The 23-year-old, who is already committed to racing in the Asian Formula Renault Championship this year, is looking forward to taking part in the first round of the new Formula Renault BARC Championship at the Northamptonshire venue’s National Circuit and will certainly go into the meeting as one of the favourites for race victory.After securing the BRDC Single-Seater title during only his second season of car racing, Shawyer went on to contest the 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship and produced some impressive performances along the way, including a best result of eighth position during only his second ever competitive outing in an FR 2.0 car.Working by day as a race instructor at Silverstone, Shawyer is hoping to put his local knowledge to good use and help provide Russell Racing with a strong start to the Doncaster team’s maiden outing in Formula Renault BARC.He commented: “At the moment this is a one-off deal due to my commitments in the Asian Formula Renault Championship but I’m confident Russell Racing will do a great job and I’m certain we’ll be able to enjoy a successful weekend together.“This race will act as ideal seat-time for me and it’s a good opportunity to race against some solid competition as the BARC series looks to have a good grid this year. The team wants a strong result, as do I, and even though we won’t have any testing time ahead of the race I’m confident we stand a great chance of doing well.”Competing in the headline FR2000 Class of the Formula Renault BARC Championship, Russell Racing is also delighted to announce it will field a second car at Silverstone on Saturday for seasoned category campaigner Martin Bloss.The 42-year-old, from Andover in Hampshire, has been working alongside the team through its Formula Renault UK and Formula Renault BARC pre-season preparations and is now keen to get back behind the wheel himself for round one of the BARC series.Commenting on the two deals, Russell Racing team manager Rob Croot said: “It’s been a very busy week for us and we’re delighted to have secured deals with Matt and Martin to race with us this weekend and we’re certainly aiming as high as possible. The plan has always been to dovetail our Formula Renault UK operation with outings in BARC.“Matt has proven he’s a quality driver. We’re all very confident he stands a great chance of being at the sharp end and, hopefully, challenging for the win. It’s great to have Martin out there too, he’s certainly a bit of a category stalwart and he’s hoping to be able to show some of the younger drivers the way with his vast experience.” Qualifying for round one of the 2006 Formula Renault BARC Championship is set to take place at 10.15 this Saturday, 22nd April, with the race itself expected to commence from around 14.50 onwards.