Motorsport: Valley man close to landing dream drive

Oct 27 2011

MARCUS CLUTTON could be close to landing a dream drive for a works team after winning the British GT4 Championship this year.

The 22-year-old was last week due to test for Nissan after impressing with his title triumph, but the opportunity fell through after the car he was supposed to drive came back damaged beyond repair following a race in Holland.

Clutton, who lives in Cerrigydrudion, is waiting to hear whether the test drive can be rearranged as he looks to step up his career following a successful summer which saw him not only win his championship, but also narrowly miss out on a place in a famous 24-hour race at the iconic Daytona circuit in America.

He came second in the Daytona Challenge, which saw F3 drivers and their counterparts from the GT3 and GT4 support series accrue points from their championship races on this side of the Atlantic, with the ultimate prize a coveted drive in a day-long endurance race at the famous Florida track.

That honour went to F3 champion Felipe Nasr, with Clutton named as first reserve – but although he was disappointed to miss out on Daytona, he says the boost to his profile has been tremendous as he plots a course towards his ultimate goal of Le Mans racing.

“There were some really good names in there so it was good to finish second,” said Clutton.  “Although I haven’t won it, the publicity I’ve had from it has been a big boost. I didn’t expect to be up at the top – I just entered to see how I did, but the publicity I’ve got from this will be a massive help, especially if I want to go on to GT3 next year.

“I was meant to be out testing for the Nissan works team, but the car came back damaged from its last race in Holland and couldn’t run again. That would have been a GT4 car, but Nissan have got the full range of cars – GT4, GT3, right up to the prototype cars that run in the Le Mans series, which is what I want to do eventually.

“So hopefully there’s still potential there and it can be rearranged. But I’ve got a good line on my CV now of being champion, which means I’ve got an advantage on anybody else.”

Whether or not he wins a place on a works team, Clutton wants to move on from British GT4 in 2012.

That could mean either racing GT4 in Europe or stepping up to the GT3 championship. Currently driving for ABG Motorsport in a KTM X Bow, finances may dictate that he stays within GT4 and competes against the best in Europe.

But Clutton, who originally comes from Oldham but moved to Glasfryn last year, has time on his side. Last year he didn’t land the ABG Motorsport drive until February, and with the season starting in April it was a short turnaround for his championship-winning campaign.

If he does not get a place on a works team, he has the winter either to work on securing funds for a step up to GT3, or work on his KTM X Bow for a crack at Europe.

“It depends on the budget,” he said. “The guy I race with (co-driver Peter Belshaw), he owns the KTM, so GT4 in Europe is the most likely because we can use the same car. If we did GT3 we’d need a new car, so we’d be looking at around £200,000-plus, which is a lot of money to put down on a car before you go racing.

“GT3 is still our aim, but we’d need to find a lot of backing – for instance one way of doing it might be if a sponsor owned the car and had it in their colours, so at the end of the season they could sell the car and get most of the money back.

“If we do GT4 it’s a step up from the British championship, so the winter will be all about testing the KTM and trying to get more out of it. If we do GT3, we’ll be learning a new car. Either way we’ve got a lot of work ahead – but it all feels quite promising at the moment.”