Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup squad Mark Burdett Motorsport has confirmed rapid British racer Alex Gill will spearhead the team’s assault on the 2016 championship.
Having concluded his maiden season at European-level last year as the fourth highest placed rookie, eighth overall in the NEC driver standings, Gill – from Womersley near Doncaster – goes into the new campaign looking forward to a fresh challenge after joining Lincolnshire-based MBM.
Becoming a podium finisher in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC on only his third weekend in the series, during his first competitive outing at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the 18-year-old is now set to lead the challenge of Mark Burdett Motorsport which will field a multi-car team this year in the category.
“We’ve watched Alex’s fantastic progress since karting and he’s exactly the sort of driver we wanted this year”, said team principal Mark Burdett, “He’s a great young talent, very fast and committed and obviously has good experience to call on from last season in NEC.
“I personally rate Alex very highly, he’s one of Britain’s best young racers and we’re all delighted to be working with him this season. He’s only done a couple of tests with us up to now, but he fitted in straight away and really impressed everyone. It’s great for the team to have a driver of his quality leading our challenge in such a competitive championship.”
Gill first came to prominence during his formative karting career, winning the Super 1 National Cadet Championship in 2009 and finishing equal first overall, but third on ‘drop scores’, in the Formula Kart Stars MSA Cadet series the same year. Taking the runner-up position in the Kartmasters KF3 Grand Prix two years later, in 2012 he added another title with the coveted British KF3 Karting crown.
Graduating into cars in late 2013 in the UK-based Protyre Formula Renault Championship, Gill went on to place fourth overall in the Autumn Cup and during his first season in cars in 2014 he only just missed out on a top three finish by a mere five points. Taking a maiden victory on the opening weekend, he ended the season with a total of seven podiums and also secured five pole positions.
Thrilled to be joining Mark Burdett Motorsport for his second year in the ultra-competitive Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, the Yorkshire teenager said: “I’m really pleased to be joining Mark’s team this year, he runs a great operation and always puts out a good car – the couple of tests I did over the winter proved that. I feel like everything is in place for a strong season for all of us.”
Official pre-season Formula Renault 2.0 NEC testing begins on 9th/10th March at Assen in The Netherlands ahead of visits to the Nurburgring and Hockenheim in Germany. The championship itself will get underway on 23rd/24th April at Monza in Italy and concludes over the weekend 1st/2nd October at Hockenheim.
