Tom will drive for Team Halfords in next years BTCC, racing their Team Dynamics designed and built Honda Civic, the same make of car Tom used to fantastic effect in previous seasons taking six victories

Double Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champions Team Halfords has finalise their driver line-up for 2008, with the announcement that Tom Chilton will partner Gordon Shedden for the new BTCC season.

The 22-year-old joins Team Halfords as one of the young stars of the BTCC, having established himself as a regular front-runner during a career that has also seen him drive for the Honda works team in the past. It means Tom will be reunited with the Civic, albeit this time in the Team Dynamics designed and built S2000-spec machine that won five times in its first season of racing.

After a 2007 season that saw Team Halfords finish third and fourth in the drivers� championship and third in the teams� standings, the partnership of Tom and �Flash� will provide the team with one of the quickest and most exciting driver line-ups on the grid as it seeks to reclaim the championship titles.

Tom, the youngest ever driver to win a race in the BTCC, will join the team from VX Racing - meaning he will swap seats with Matt Neal who is leaving the Team Dynamics-run squad to compete for the factory Vauxhall team next season.

�Matt and I have basically done a driver swap and I am very happy to be joining Team Halfords,� Tom said. �They are just like my old team Arena Motorsport in that they are a closely knit, family-run team. They have been hugely successful with two drivers� titles and lots of Independents titles and I reckon the Honda Civic will be the fastest car on the grid next year. I go where I think I can win, so I�m really excited.

�I think the Civic will be better suited to my driving style than the Vectra and this is the best drive that I could be in for the 2008 season, full stop. I have no doubt that this is the best seat that was available in the BTCC. Gordon and Matt finished third and fourth in the championship last season and the car hadn�t done any pre-season testing, so it shows how much it was developed during the year. At Thruxton when I was following Matt in the Vectra, we were pretty much the same everywhere although the Honda was better under braking. However, I feel there is still a lot to come from the Civic.

�This will be my seventh year in the BTCC and I�ve won races before and shown I can run at the front and  now I want to win the title. This is my chance to do that.�

Team principal Steve Neal admits that signing Chilton to partner returning Scottish driver Shedden is a real coup for the double champions and added that both drivers would be free to fight for the championship title during the 2008 campaign.

�Tom�s new found maturity after six years in the BTCC has seen him turn into a very comprehensive and capable driver,� he said. �There is a much older head sitting on those young shoulders and we will definitely get the best out of Tom with our closely knit family style team. Tom has always had exceptional speed and he has now learnt considerable race craft this combination will undoubtedly make for a definite race winner and a strong candidate for the overall championship.